Brigid ran on down the familiar streets of her childhood with Danu, Brinn, and Rhett’Sa not far behind. Some of the building had been set ablaze as city folk and Watchdogs did their best to keep the golgiests at bay. The flames set an eerie red glow upon the city as they ran. Even had there not been the light of the flames Brigid could have easily guided them through the streets. This had been her home her whole life and she knew every inch of it better than anyone. She looked to the spired white tower ahead of them, it too was bathed in the reddish glow of the flames and no longer seemed the pristine visage overlooking the city. As they moved on screams and shouts rang out around them. From time to time they came across bodies of fallen residents, blood smeared across the paving stones, bodies dismembered, some barely recognisable. Passing one home Brigid had stalled wanting to go in and help. There had been woeful screams for help from within. Brinn shouted at her for being a foolish girl and reminded her they had no time for delays. It pained her, but she knew it to be true. In trying to save one poor soul they may be waylaid so long that the entirety of the city fell. Knowing this did nothing to quell the ache in her heart and she abandoned them. More of the dead for me to cry for. How many more will there be before the end of this night? Brigid thought to herself as she ran on trying to drown out the scream that came and abruptly ceased. How many more?

Before long they came to one of the market districts in the city. There were people running wildly around seeking safety from the creatures. There were so many of them it would be difficult to make it through without a being noticed.

‘There’s too many of them,’ said Danu surveying the chaos before her.

‘We’ve no choice. We must make our way around. Come! This way!’ said Brinn with the voice of a seasoned dwarven battle-maiden. Brigid was surprised and although she had heard many of the stories, it had always been difficult to imagine. Brinn had been one of the fiercest battle-maidens of her dwarven clans long before Brigid had even been born. To Brigid she had only been the sweet, yet stern nurse turned barmaid as she had gotten older. People can be more than one thing. You’ve got to have some flexibility to accept that, Brinn had said that too her when she first learned of Terrick’s and Dellwier’s relationship. They had been like brothers, closest of friends, and as Brigid got older and her unrequited feelings developed for Terrick, they became lovers, betrayers, rivals, soldiers and more. She had hated hearing those words at the time. But now it seemed Brinn had known something of that. That a person could play many roles.

‘Well… don’t look at me like I’ve asked you to swallow rocks. Move!’ she commanded again. Brigid motioned to follow her before a cry came from the throng of people within the market square.

‘Bid! Bid! Is that you?’ came the familiar voice of her old childhood friend Terrick. She could hardly pause to think before she turned and screamed back at him, ‘I’ve told you a thousand times my name is Brigid!’ As soon as she said it, she remembered where she was and the disaster around her. She looked toward the centre of the market area to see Terrick and several of the other Watchdog peacekeepers defending residents of the city. They were flanked by golgiests on either side that were barely being kept at bay by swords and spears.

‘What are you doing Brigid. We have no time for this,’ said Brinn from behind her. Brigid knew she was right but couldn’t leave her childhood friend to die even if she did want to thump him on the head with her hammer most of the time.

‘But Brinn we can’t leave them. I can’t stand him, but I’ll not leave that rock headed fool to die here,’ she said trying not to let her true feelings of concern show through. Brinn grimaced at her and weighed the decision heavily. She looked as though she wanted to bend Brigid over her knee for talking back.

‘Very well. Rhett’Sa come along. You had better make quick work of this so we can be on our way,’ she commanded the towering man. Without any further word needed, Rhett’Sa charged like a bull into the fray of people and golgeists. He had no weapon in hand but with his hulking frame didn’t need one. His barrel chest and hammer-like arms collided with the golgiests sending them flying through the air or crumpling like thin sheets of paper on the stones. Brigid immediately began weaving runes of fire in the air in front of her and sent jets of flames from them searing the creatures that scattered from the centre of the market. Brinn went with her mace swinging and grunting with barred teeth as bones cracked. Danu had become a silken dark panther moving with blinding speed and grace dispatching the remainder of the creatures as they fled. It had not taken long to clear the market of the foul creatures. Terrick came to Brigid, spear in hand, a large gash on the side of his face where a claw of the golgeists had left a messy wound.

‘Bid, boy am I glad you came by,’ he said panting and wearing a wicked grin; the kind he’d always had when teasing Brigid as children.

‘Brigid! I should have left you to be eaten by those things. I don’t know why I bother with you!’ she barked back. She half wanted to scribe runes of fire on his hide then a there. Why does he always have to tease me so? She thought as another emotion crept in. Was it relief? She might hold a tight grudge against Terrick and Dellwier for falling in love with one another and leaving her to join the city militia but were there still feelings there for them after all?

‘I am sorry Bid… I mean… Brigid. Old habits and all that,’ he said apologetically. ‘Have you seen Dell? He was meant to meet me some days ago before all this happened. Said we needed to get out of the city or some such… is he…,’ Terrick choked on the words before they could come out. There was worry strewn across his face as plain as the wound. It would leave a scar of that Brigid was sure. Magic might close the wound and speed up the healing process, but it would forever be there as a blemish on his handsome freckled face. Bridgid collected her thoughts and scolded herself for allowing her old feelings for Terrick to resurface. He was with Dellwier. He would never love her like that.

‘He’s alive Terrick. He came with that hideous thing called Pavreck and the rest of the Daybreakers. They half destroyed the guild by the time they were done. I’ve a mind to crack his head open to see if there’s anything left in there,’ she added. Her hot temper and words of assurance that Dellwier was indeed alive brought back that playful grin to Terrick’s face.

‘I am glad he is alive,’ he said, and his expression returned to that of worry, ‘although it isn’t like him to help destroy your guild and attack you… no matter the history between you two’. Brigid thought on that a moment and it was true. Although he was a fool for joining the Daybreakers he truly did still care for Brigid as he did for a sister. She remembered then the oath he had spoken of to her in the streets days ago and the power that Pavreck held over the rest of the Daybreakers.

‘It isn’t his fault,’ she said trying to sound angry and not empathetic. ‘It’s that Pavreck. We need to stop him… everything should be fine if we can do that’.

‘Brigid, you dallier. Hurry along! We’ve wasted too much time as it is,’ came the sharp words of Brinn.

‘I have to go Terrick,’ she said moving away from him. He grabbed her arm.

‘I’m not letting you do this alone. If what you say is true and he and the rest of the Daybreakers are under Pavreck’s control, you will need help,’ he said determinedly.

‘Fine! Just be quick about it and don’t get in the way,’ she said sternly. She sounded uncaring but truthfully inside she was glad to have him along. She had seen what Pavreck could do, and she was terrified to face him. They would need all the help they could get.

It wasn’t long before they reached the tower entrance. The great doors were torn open by the force of the vines that had become far more overgrown than those they had seen in Tory. They made for difficult terrain to cross as they twisted about the cobble stones beneath their feet.

‘So what’s the plan?’ asked Terrick sidling up by Brigid. She glowered at him and shushed him in the process. ‘Alright Bid I was only asking,’ he said hands in front of him in mock surrender. Brigid was about to open her mouth and denouncing him for all the world to hear but was stopped by Brinn.

‘Brigid leave it be,’ she warned. Brigid obliged but seethed inside. She would throttle him if they managed to survive this.

‘If you can get my staff off of Pavreck I might be able to do something,’ said Danu.

‘Is it really that powerful?’ asked Brigid.

‘It was…a gift from… someone very strong,’ she said elusively. ‘Have you seen how the vines avoid the water? I think with my staff I can call some rain to help us get rid of them,’ she added changing the subject.

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‘How do we go about getting it off him then, not to mention all the Daybreakers in there… and Dell,’ said Terrick concern on his face.

‘Leave them Daybreakers to Rhett’Sa and myself. We’ve some scores to settle for what they did to the guild,’ said Brinn with a cold hardness. ‘Terrick you and the rest of the Watchdogs will help us with that lot ya’hear,’ she added. Terrick nodded and withheld whatever clever remark he wanted to say. He’d learned on many occasions as a boy that Brinn expected to be listened to.

‘Danu and I will try and distract Pavreck and get the staff then I suppose,’ said Brigid with a clear distaste for the idea.

‘Do you know any runes for water?’ asked Danu.

‘Not much use in the forge… and it was the villagers in Tory that showed me the runes for turning water to ice, but I don’t suppose that will help much,’ she added dejectedly.

‘Well make do with what you have then and let’s get going. The sooner we get rid of these blasted vines the better. Rhett’Sa with me,’ she commanded and motioned forward. Brinn climbed the mass of vines and looked within the walls and gate. There were Daybreaker all about and Pavreck at the top of the stairs on a landing before the tower’s entrance.

‘We go now. Move fast and we may be able to overwhelm them,’ the others nodded in understanding.

‘Wait for my call,’ said Danu and before any of them could say another word she had become a large owl and made flight into the sky above the courtyard. Everyone readied their weapons and awaited her call. From where Danu was, she could see far more clearly than any of the others. She relished in the joys of flight and the feel of the wind gliding across her feathered body. How easy it would have been in this moment to abandon it all and be free with the beast of the world. True it would be easy for a time; however, The Corruption would reach her no matter where she flew if she did nothing to make a stand now. She tried to hold to the part of herself that was still Danu and not the owl. She focussed her mind on the search for Pavreck and the staff. She would fly all she wished once this task was done, if it could be done at all. She looked about the courtyard and noticed a sickly glow from below as she saw Pavreck. She watched as he channelled power through the staff. He was muttering to himself maintaining a spell of some kind. Danu wasn’t sure but she thought she could almost see the flows of The Torrent as he channelled. This was strange to her as to her knowledge it was only the Ghel that could see the flows. Once the flows had been channelled and expressed anyone could see the magical energies, but to see the very flows beforehand was unheard of outside of the rare gift of the Ghel. He must truly be channelling an immense amount for Danu to be able to catch glimpses of it. It was then that she saw what was in his other hand. Pavreck held tightly to a small wooden figurine much like the marble one Blink had broken. This appeared to be in the shape of a woman holding a gnarled staff in one hand and a flowering vine in the other. So that’s how he’s been able to control the vines and change them. He’s had one of the numinian pieces all this time. Danu’s heart sank at the thought of it. She had seen what these figurines were capable of and where their hopes were few before they now seemed non-existent. Regardless, Danu rallied herself, after all there was no other way than to try. She gave a loud screech and descended directly at Pavreck. All the Daybreakers looked toward the sky and Pavreck ceased chanting briefly to see something dark descending rapidly in his direction.

Hearing the screeching owl sound from Danu, Brigid and the others charged into the fray of Daybreakers. Brigid rapidly made signs in the air for fire and began sending forth as many as she could muster. Balls of small suns shot across the courtyard colliding with gleaming metal plate. They met their mark with bursts of flame yet most of the Daybreakers shrugged them away. They seemed to barely notice. She watched as Brinn and Rhett’Sa wasted no time in knocking down any Daybreaker in their path. The giant of a barman and the small stocky dwarven woman moved with such elegance on the battlefield Brigid thought there must be no other place they belonged. It seemed the stories about them she had heard all her life were certainly true. They were a fearsome pair to be sure and even in the heat of battle Brigid wondered why they had given it up at all. Clear as if the sun had risen on the new day, she saw him at the top of the stairs. He was flailing against Danu as she clawed and careened about him with her large wings. There he is… Now is the time. I must get to him. I must. She urged herself on and forced her legs to move. Her footing was difficult on the vine covered floor but the same could be said for the Daybreakers about her. She moved through them with some clumsy jarring movements and only once found herself pinned and needing to use her hammer to deflect the oncoming blow of a heavy shield. It had sent her off balance but as soon as she had found her footing again a spear rushed past her face and hair finding its mark in the neck of a Daybreaker fighter. She didn’t need to turn to know where it had come from. Terrick was eagerly running past her moving along the vines as though he had done so all his life. He wrenched the spear from the crumpled body and gave her a wink.

‘I had it under control Terrick,’ she snarled through gritted teeth.

‘Course ya did. You always have Bid,’ he smiled and gave his spear an arrogant twirl. Brigid seethed and ran at him. His handsome face suddenly changing to an expression of shock as she swung her hammer. He made as if to move out of her way but not before her shoulder caught him sending him toppling out of the way. Her hammer was driven upwards at another of the Daybreaker coming from behind him. There was a crack of bones as the hammer met with the jaw of the enemy. She turned on him then.

‘It’s Brigid if you want to keep your head after this Terrick,’ she said with haughtiness. Terrick merely looked up at her in a mixture of admiration and surprise. It was then that a screech rang out from atop the stairs. They both turned to look in Danu’s direction. She was being roughly held in her bird form by a figure they both knew well. Their hearts broke all at once at the sight of it. Dellwier, a look without any expression or recognition at what he was doing. He was gripping the owl’s wings and tearing at them without care or mercy. He would wrench them from her body if he pulled any harder and the sounds of agony made them cringe.

‘Danu! Dellwier you let her go this instant!’ Brigid screamed. Nothing. There was not a single sign that he had heard her, not one. He merely held Danu there as her bird form let loose sounds Brigid thought impossible in all the world’s of nature. She was in pain and needed help. Before she could even think of what she was doing she had thrown her hammer down and was beginning to frantically scribe runes in the air at a speed she had never had to do before. They glowed before her and her hands moved of their volition, runes of fire, explosion, of converting metals, and more fire again. I won’t hold back. I won’t let him hurt her or himself for that matter. Innais trusted me with this, and I’ll not let her down. More fire, and more, the very air around her was burning now, far hotter than anything she had produced outside of the forges. The runes danced about her and if not for necessity it would have been beautiful to see. Before long she knew she was done, she could barely make out what she strung together with them. She heard a cry from nearby.

‘Brigid no! That is too much! You haven’t the strength for commanding that much!’ cried Brinn pushing another Daybreaker away from her. Brigid ignored her. Even though she knew the dwarf was right. How many times had she been warned against using too many of the runes or putting too much of her lifeforce into them? How many? But no, this was her time to do what she knew she must. Brigid placed her hands upon the shifting runes and let her life force flowed freely into them. The air around them was burning with heat and gouts of steam were released from between the vines beneath her feet. She could see it now, the cobble stones beneath her heating rapidly and burning away at the vines.

‘Dellwier you wake up you rock headed fool!’ she yelled. Gouts of flame and molten rock burst from beneath the vines in a searing rain of fire that came upon Pavreck. The shock must have been enough for Dellwier to give pause and loosen his grip as Danu returned to her human form and pulled her arms free throwing herself to the side against the stonework of the upper stairs. She was barely out of the way as the flames came close to hitting their mark. Close, but that was all for Brigid collapsed from the strain of the casting on her body. She fell in a slump, her breath rattling and gasping for moisture. She had done her best to maintain it, yet she hadn’t the strength. Runic magic would not take more than the caster had to give, it simply would not hold, or it would fail utterly.

‘I’ve had enough of your blasphemy. You will submit to my lord and your new god,’ said Pavreck regaining himself. He raised the staff and the wooden numinian figurine. The glow of magic returned to them, and the vines strewn all about twisted and writhed.

‘Terrick… you must…’ Brigid said gasped through heavy breaths. She wanted to tell him to run away, to knock some sense into Dellwier and for them both to find peace away from this place. She wished she were stronger, that she could have done more to save them. Before she could form the words, the vines about the courtyard shifted and wrapped around them all. She felt the needles penetrate her skin and she was suddenly disconnected from The Torrent. Terrick too was lifted by the vines and held in suspension. He cried out in surprise and pleaded for his love Dellwier to awaken. As before the expression on Dellwier’s face was much the same. There was an emptiness there, if Dellwier was in there somewhere, it was far, far from the waking nightmare they had found themselves in. They gasped for air as the vines crushed them.

Danu scrambled to her feet on the top of the stairs. She looked below seeing Brigid and the others fighting for air to fill their lungs. Pavreck was so powerful it had been foolish to believe they could do anything to stop him. Her legs were shaking and the feeling of wanting to take to the sky again returned. To flee and never look back. Was it not better to run away and survive for a time than to die now in failure? No beast would stay in a place of so much danger, why then should she? It was then that she saw it in her mind, an image of herself standing upon the steps of the tower. She held the staff in hand and the light of growth and life emanated from her. Moreover, in the image she was her true self, no hiding her wings or what she truly was. She was herself and nothing more. The vision faded and she remembered that this was what Cernunnos had shown her so long ago in the woods. It was as though he had sent the thought to her again, guiding her with a promise. She held the walnut hanging around her neck and pulling the cord free she prepared herself to break it.