Zalia picked up the child and moved away from the dead demon until the long grass covered it up. She put her down and kneeled.

“Where did you come from, is your town nearby?” she asked the kid.

She shook her head.

“Did you leave home to try find somewhere safer?” Zalia asked.

The girl gave a little nod, her hands rubbing at her eyes as she continued to cry.

Zalia stood looking around. They couldn’t stay here for long, the sound the demon had made when it died was much too loud to not have brought some attention. First she needed to go check something.

“Boreal, come protect her for a moment please,” Zalia sent.

A few moments later, Boreal pushed through the grass, her armour stored away. The girl jerked away at seeing Boreal but Zalia caught her by the shoulder again.

“Don’t worry, it’s ok. This is Boreal. She’s very friendly and a real puffball when you get to know her. She’s going to protect you for just a little time while I have a quick look around alright? Do you have a name?” Zalia explained.

Boreal sat down a few steps away.

“Aylie,” the girl said in a small whisper.

“Alright Aylie, would you like to give Boreal a hug?” Zalia asked, “She's very fluffy.”

Aylie gave a small nod so Zalia walked up to Boreal with her and put the girl's hand on Boreal’s side. Boreal began quietly purring to help.

“See? Nothing to worry about. She will protect you while I’m gone for just a moment ok?” Zalia said.

Aylie pushed herself into the fluffy side of Boreal, giving her a hug.

Zalia stepped away and made her way to the treeline where Aylie and the demon had first come from. It took only a few minutes of searching to find what she had been hoping not to find. Further into the trees, there were bodies. Well, what might have once been bodies.

There were maybe five, though it could have been one more or less. It was hard to tell.

It looked like the demon had taken its time tearing the people apart one by one, a nauseating sight. She didn’t look to even bury these people, the time needed to figure out which piece belonged to who was too time consuming and gruesome a task to undertake. Instead, she used a quick Flame-root ritual and her control to burn the remains to ashes, making sure to heal any damage she accidentally did to the plants around.

They had been what Zalia assumed to be the family of the child, now all dead. She left the ashes behind, leaving it to the effects of rain and time to bury them now.

Making her way back to Boreal and Aylie, Zalia managed to get her onto Boreal and the three of them continued the journey. A war camp was no place for a child but there wasn’t really much else Zalia knew to do. Perhaps a new family could be found for her or she could be taken down south with a group like the one she had run into two days past. There were options, just none of them were something a child should have to go through.

Zalia left her armour off, stored away in her glove but easily accessible through Druid Grove’s storage ability. The appearance of the armour and the incorporealness it gave her lent a somewhat inhuman look. Something real and human was perhaps what Aylie needed right now.

Wildlife was scarce as they travelled, either having fled or been killed off by the various demons now roaming Endaria. That said, the wildlife wasn’t entirely defenceless itself. Along their travels, Zalia found a few bodies of demons that had been left to rot, their meat not something that any creature seemed to want to eat, Boreal included. From inspecting a few of the bodies, Zalia found a few types of injuries that she recognised. One was entirely withered, with no drop of water remaining in its body, probably as a result of a run-in with one of the huge centipede creatures Zalia had run into once. Others had differing claw marks, bite wounds and other similar injuries as a result of a run-in with some particularly dangerous wildlife.

That said, the amount of demon bodies she found was a much smaller number than the amount of dead animals she found.

Over the course of the next two days of travel, she could feel a familiar sensation building. An odd sense of danger. It struck her, the realisation of what exactly it was, late on the second day. It was the corruption, the aura of it at least, so weak as to be unrecognisable to begin with yet growing stronger the further she travelled.

As Zalia, Boreal and Aylie crested the top of a hill, they were able to see down the other side across a huge plain. Close to them, was something of a fortress. It was a huge compound surrounded by tall crenellated stone walls. Carved into those stone walls were various glowing runes emitting an almost palpable power. A shimmering translucent light of some sort stretched up from the walls forming a dome over the bustling camp within.

The camp was an extremely well-organised affair of stone buildings, open areas and canvas pavilions. Zalia knew that this was the camp of the rebellion, one of them at least, due to the flags flapping in the wind. Dark green and brown, a crossed sword and staff with a crown broken in half underneath.

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Far, far into the distance, she could see the capital of Endaria. She wasn’t sure if the city had a name as everyone simply called it the capital, even maps had it labelled as such. It made the organised camp of the rebellion look small and weak.

Its walls were higher, made of a stone that themselves shimmered with power. Though she couldn’t see from here, she knew there would be the flags of the king hung on the walls.

The source of the corruption she felt, different to the spots of corrupted land she had been healing around the place, was most definitely the capital. She could tell that because of the red haze that hung over the city. Seeing that brought her dread, her memories of Cormaine flashing through her mind. She was terrified of what it meant for the people who had lived there. She knew firsthand what that aura could do.

First, though, she had to go down to the fortified camp.

The trio went down the other side of the hill, travelling with ease down the grassy slope. It was only another half hour of walking before they arrived at the gates. Zalia knew they had been spotted, all plant life having been removed from a good area around the walls to allow for visibility.

The camp was a significantly more intimidating sight than the previous one had been. That one had only had wood log walls and was much smaller than the one before her now. This one was four, or five times bigger and most likely held both a large number of soldiers and refugees.

“Stop there for inspection!” a voice called down as they stepped up to the large gates.

The trio stopped and weren’t kept waiting long as the gate opened and two people walked out. One was a knight in full plate, something oddly familiar about the figure, and the other was a short, nervous-looking man.

As they approached, Zalia checked them with Aura observation.

Knight Alara - Silver rank.

? - Silver rank.

“Alara?” Zalia thought.

It took her just a moment to realise what that meant. This was Alara, the knight she had met when she first came to Endaria. The one that had fought for the king. She had only been Bronze rank back then but had obviously managed to reach the next milestone. Had she defected?

It looked like Alara had tried using her own Aura observation on Zalia because her hand went to her sword.

“Zalia, long time,” Alara said, coming to a stop in front of her.

“You were fighting for the king last I saw you,” Zalia said, ignoring the greeting.

“Things changed,” Alara replied.

“That they have,” Zalia admitted.

Zalia gently lifted Aylie down from Boreal.

“What does inspection entail exactly?” Zalia asked.

“We need to determine if you’re an enemy or not,” Alara said.

“Well, you know I don’t fight for the king, that’s for sure,” Zalia pointed out.

“Yes, but they have a… method of disguising themselves as us. And you’re meant to be dead,” Alara explained.

“I’ve heard,” Zalia said.

Alara turned to the nervous man beside her who still hadn’t spoken.

“All seem good?” she asked.

“Y.. yes, definitely not one of them,” the man said.

“Them?” Zalia asked.

“And who is this?” Alara asked, ignoring the question, “I don’t remember you having a child last we spoke.”

“This is Aylie, I found her being hunted by one of the demon creatures. Her family is… well, didn’t make it,” Zalia explained, “And this is Boreal. She has been my companion for a while, though she is much larger now than she used to be.”

Aylie was staring up at Alara with round eyes. She hadn’t spoken much more since their first meeting but Zalia didn’t want to try the mental healing she had developed just yet. Using it on a “god” was one thing, using it on the fragile mind of a human, a child even, might be dangerous. She wanted to try it on some of the broken men the rebellion was trying to heal first. There wasn't much more damage that could be done to them.

“Any weapons we need to know about?” Alara asked.

“I’ve got one, an heirloom that can change between bow and sword. And Boreal of course,” Zalia said, “Is General Faian and Lady Indis at this camp? I need to speak to them both.”

“Both, yes. You are allowed to enter, though please keep Boreal from killing anyone,” Alara said, turning about.

“She’d never,” Zalia assured.

They were led into the camp and the small amount of corruption in the air was washed away as a result of the defensive dome. Not that it was needed with how significantly Zalia’s Healing presence overpowered it here.

Within, the camp felt almost like a city, though not one that had grown naturally. It had perfectly ordered roads in a square grid, each space used efficiently. Four-man patrols marched by on different routes, all in unison and perfect form. Others went about various camp duties, a hunting party moving to leave the camp, messengers running by with rolled pages or envelopes.

Despite the face-level organisation and cleanliness of the camp, looking closer Zalia could see the real state of things. The guards had armour that wasn’t yet cleaned of blood or had damage to it. The hunting party was larger than normal, each person armoured rather than wearing lighter clothes designed for hunting, dark patches under their eyes. The buildings were orderly yet there were refugees sitting in corners or under eaves, as if there wasn’t enough space for everyone despite how large the camp was.

Zalia also noticed odd glances coming her direction, ranging from confusion to admiration. She thought she might have some idea as to why she was receiving those.

Boreal was definitely part of it, back in her armour and showing off, Aylie on her back once more. The full meaning behind the glances came when they moved through a central square in the camp.

“What the hell is that?” she asked, pointing to the centre.

Standing there atop a rocky base was a life-sized statue of herself, bow in hand, with a much smaller Boreal at her feet.

“Ah, Lady Indis is responsible for that I believe,” Alara said.

Zalia stared at it in utter disbelief.