Zalia stood in the now empty clearing, dumbfounded by the experience. She’d tried to remain as calm and collected during the experience as possible as to not offend the giant starlight wolf. Her hands were shaking slightly, still gripping her newly transformed weapon, as adrenaline pumped through her body. She looked around, finding Boreal now drinking from the pond as if she expected to be blessed as well. Zalia let out a laugh at the sight, the tension leaving her body. She observed her new blade, swinging it around lightly and finding its weight to be perfectly balanced. She unbuckled her old sword, one she had taken from the first man she had killed so long ago during the time she had first met Tristan. She had meant to replace it quite a while back for something similar to the new sword she now had but had never gotten around to it. She put her old sword into her spacial bag and slung it back onto her shoulders.

Zalia finally felt at peace. It had felt like she had something to do in the forests nearby, possibly the reason she had found herself leaving the camp so often. Now though, the forest felt like it was at rest once more and she could move towards the next goal. She began the long walk back to camp, knowing she needed to talk to her team.

Along the way, she thought about the newfound intuition she had developed. She felt that it came from her druid class though she couldn't be certain. So far, the magical intuition hadn’t led her astray and she thought it might be a good idea to learn to trust it.

“There you go, giving out trust again,” Zalia thought.

She really didn't know much about this world and how it worked. She didn't know if the intuition was the result of some god or powerful creature messing with her mind. However, if she went through life trusting nothing and no one, what kind of life would that be to live? She silently cursed Indis for betraying her, admittedly easily given, trust.

“Just a few more weeks,” Zalia thought.

After that, she would be able to go free from the madness that was the human race. She had thought to see what the people in this world were like and found that she regretted ever leaving the north in the first place.

Zalia arrived back at the camp after about an hour or so of walking. She could probably have run it in a third or less of the time but didn't find herself in a hurry. The reason for that was now before her as she found Zen still within the tent, the other two nowhere to be seen.

“Hey Zen,” Zalia said, feeling subdued.

“Hey Zalia,” Zen replied, seeming equally lacking in energy.

“Where are the others?” Zalia asked.

“Ember went to see if anybody needed healing and Indis went looking for you,” Zen replied.

Zalia sat down next to Zen, bumping him with her shoulder in a friendly way.

“You doing alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just didn't expect Indis to blow up like that,” he replied.

“I don't think any of us were. She’s been keeping a lid on all of that for a long time, the pressure must have gotten too much,” Zalia said.

Zen shrugged,

“She did that to herself, doesn't excuse how she behaved,” he said.

“No, no it doesn't,” Zalia agreed.

There was a moment of silence before Zalia spoke once more,

“I told Faian everything,” she said.

“Everything?” Zen asked.

“About Hidey, his weakness and everything else we know about the war and the rituals,” Zalia explained.

Zen let out a deep breath,

“Damn Zalia, Indis is going to be angry about that,” he said.

“She doesn't get to be, not after today,” Zalia said.

“Fair enough,” Zen replied.

“You’re not angry?” Zalia asked.

“Nah, kind of relieved actually. It takes a lot of the pressure off of us,” Zen said.

“I thought you would say as much. I hope Ember doesn't mind,” Zalia said, worry in her tone.

“Oh don't worry, she’s more like you. Doesn't care much for politics or the matters of us mere humans,” Zen said, trying to comfort her.

She snorted a laugh,

“Mere humans? Are you saying I’m not?” Zalia asked.

“Nope, more like an animal of the wilds,” Zen said, looking pointedly at Boreal who was busy trying to freeze Zen's shield to the ground.

“Point taken,” Zalia conceded.

She summoned her bow, handing it to him.

“Got a shiny new bow, amongst other things,” Zalia said in response to his confused expression.

“You were only gone for a couple of hours, how did you get this?” Zen asked, sliding his hand down the length of the weapon in awe.

“Remember those ethereal wolves?” Zalia asked.

“Yeah,” Zen replied, looking at her warily.

“One of them found me and asked me to follow it. I did and it turns out the whole pack is led by some giant starlight wolf who may or may not be a god, undecided on that,” Zalia explained.

“You’re only proving my earlier point,” Zen pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyways, the wolf wanted to thank me for paying tribute and respecting the wolves by my actions. He? She? They? Blessed my old bow and it transformed into this, a blessed heirloom. It also ranked up to Iron rank as well, which is handy,” Zalia said.

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“What does it do?” Zen asked.

“It can conjure arrows for me, which is super nice, though I haven't tried it yet. The arrows pass through non-magical armour and apply some sort of inner burning magic. The final thing it can do is this,” Zalia said, mentally commanding the bow to transform.

Zen let out a surprised sound and nearly dropped the weapon as it transformed into its sword form in a flash of light.

“Oh wow, that is beautiful,” Zen said, standing and giving it a few test swings.

“Quite the weapon hey? It has the same effects as the arrows,” Zalia explained.

“Kind of shaped like a cross between a machete and a short sword,” Zen observed.

“It is an excellent cutting blade,” Zalia said.

“Which is pretty strong with its ability to ignore armour. One of the biggest weaknesses of cutting blades in combat is how easily armour can stop them. This won't have that problem whatsoever. You’ll be able to surprise any too confident armoured opponent with this,” Zen said, handing back the weapon.

“It is quite an upgrade, though I’m more excited to test the possibilities for the bow form,” Zalia said, stashing the weapon back in its spacial storage with a thought.

“I’m a little jealous of that weapon storing ability you have,” Zen said as he watched the weapon vanish, hefting the giant mace he carried around.

“Do you have any heirloom items?” Zalia asked.

He shook his head.

“Nothing that would be useful for this field of work. I have a Gold rank ancestor who left behind some heirloom farming equipment but nothing much else. We still don't know how he ever managed to get to Gold in the farmer class, not many people believe us about that and I'm not sure I believe it myself,” Zen said

“Heirloom farming equipment,” Zalia echoed.

“Odd, I know. I'm the first in my family to ever do anything else as far as we can remember and look how that turned out,” Zen said.

“It didn't go so badly. You’re alive and well, mentally and physically. It’s no shame to return to your family and follow your ancestors path,” Zalia told him.

“I suppose not,” Zen replied, sounding a little defeated.

“Blood, war and sleeping in the wilds isn’t for everyone,” Zalia said.

“Couldn't agree more to that,” Zen agreed.

They spoke for some time about various topics, staying away from anything sensitive, before one of the other two finally returned. Indis walked in, looking a little out of breath, and stopped when she saw Zalia.

“How long have you been here for?” she asked.

“Past half an hour or so,” Zalia said.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Indis puffed.

“I went out of camp for a bit,” Zalia explained.

“Should have known,” Indis replied, sitting down on her bedroll.

“Is something the matter?” Zalia asked.

Indis frowned, obviously picking up on Zalia’s not so well hidden tone. Zalia was just trying to be polite because if she wasn't, she might end up yelling at the woman.

“Not at all, I wanted to make sure you were ok,” Indis replied.

“I am alright. Indis I… told Faian everything about Hidey, his weakness and pretty much everything else we know about the war and rituals,” Zalia said, rushing out the words.

Zen looked wary and Indis froze. A complicated expression flitted across the woman's face before she closed her eyes, exhaling deeply.

“I wish you had talked to us about doing that,” Indis said calmly.

“I considered it for a short moment,” Zalia said.

“And why did you not tell us before making that decision?” Indis asked, a slight bit of irritation making its way into her tone.

“Because rather than comfort and affirm our obviously distressed teammate and friend, you decided to explode and scream at him. I decided to take the stress and pressure off of his shoulders so that he can relax for one fucking minute,” Zalia explained, clipping off her final words.

“I see,” Indis replied coldly.

Zen looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Going forwards, Faian will help us plan a joint attack on the king and his army, the battle of the armies hopefully enough of a distraction to assassinate the king before he turns this kingdom into a wasteland. Our part will be to plant information with Hidey, hoping he will bring it to the king which should give us an advantage. That is all. If you want to go confront the king directly, I won't stop you. None of the rest of us will be, assuming Ember doesn't want to throw her life away,” Zalia said carefully, trying to maintain a neutral tone.

“So it shall be,” Indis said, not quite managing to keep the icy rage from her voice.

Zalia had learnt that if there was one thing Indis hated, it was being in a situation she didn't control in some way. Zalia had just taken all of that control away from her by giving all their information to the general. She didn't particularly care that Indis was upset by that, in fact if the woman had yelled at her she would have simply left right then and there.

Indis stood up,

“I will see you both at our meeting with the second general tomorrow. I shall sleep elsewhere tonight,” Indis said, leaving the tent.

Zalia let out a tense sigh,

“I probably shouldn't have aggravated her like that,” she said.

“She’ll come around,” Zen promised, though he didn't sound too certain.

Zalia buried her face into her hands groaning. Boreal came up and pushed her way onto Zalia’s lap, curling up and purring gently. She patted the soft feline, taking comfort in the sensation as a warmth spread from Boreal into Zalia, immediately relaxing her.

“Is that another magic ability you have, or is it just natural,” Zalia thought towards Boreal.

She simply looked up at Zalia, blinked once and then curled up again.

“We’ll be free of this soon, don't worry,” Zalia said, trying to sound upbeat.

“Soon,” Zen repeated, though he didn't sound hopeful. Zalia wished she could say she didn't feel the same.

A while later when Ember arrived back from wherever she had been, Zalia explained what she had done to her as well. Ember took it much better than Indis had, shrugging it off and saying she trusted Zalia to make the right decision. They didn't speak much for the rest of the day, night soon arriving with both Zen and Ember falling asleep early. Zalia stayed awake, lost in her own thoughts deep into the night. Indis never returned to the tent that night and finally, Zalia fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.

⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻

Zalia woke up before the others, finding it unfair today that she had to be awake for so many more hours. Her opinion on the usefulness of the ability varied, some days she loved it but others she wished she could turn it off and sleep through the morning. Sighing, she got up and left the tent bringing nothing but her simple clothes. She decided it was a good idea to start the day with her usual routine, running to the gate and taking her morning sprint through the forest. She travelled in a large loop to the pond and took a short bath before arriving back in the camp, looking to find someone to spar with. A few early risers turned down her offer but luckily one younger man wanted to test himself against a member of the Morning’s Shade and accepted her offer of a spar. Zalia didn't use her new sword, knowing it would be much too dangerous. Instead, she had to use a practice sword that felt much too unwieldy in comparison.

Before long, the young lad called off the spar as she whacked him across the side for the eighth time in as many bouts. She had quickly picked up on the weakness in his defence on the right side and had thoroughly taken advantage of it, unfairly taking out her frustration on the man's body. She healed him in recompense, ensuring he wouldn't have any bruises or sores from the bouts. She thanked him as he left, still rubbing his arm despite the healing she had provided.

Zalia made her way back to the tent, knowing that the other general would be arriving at some point today. She wished they could call off the meeting but it would be quite rude to do so after asking him to come here. Besides, they could bring him up to speed and get his assistance with forming a plan that would work. She pushed aside the tent flaps and made her way, loudly, into the space. Ember groaned, muttering something that sounded like an insult that Zalia couldn't quite make out.

“Come on you two, we have work to do,” Zalia announced loudly.

“O away,” Ember said into her pillow.

“Maybe another time, up you get!” Zalia said, pulling her blanket off.

This was possibly Zalia’s favourite part of her morning routine.