I find myself in here once more. I know this place, I know that I have been in here for so long...yet everything I see is the same, or at least, it looks the same. Green forests...no, green jungles. And I hear a thousand birds...no, they are no birds. They are too loud, like a thousand thunders, where am I?

I wake up and immediately try to stand up. I'm in a tent, yes, this is the camp where the witches rested. How long has it been? A quick glance at my body and it is clear it couldn't have been that long ago. My wounds still ache and I'm covered in torn cloth that works as bandages. It seems the artifact has lost its power.

Scarlett had warned me the day she gave it to me, that taking too much damage would undo the spell.

Getting out of the tent my men smile when they see me. They are horribly wounded. How can they smile when half their bodies are covered in cloth? The flames.

"Good, we can leave now" Thorum speaks up behind me, he closes his book.

"What happened?" I ask turning to see him, he looks anxious.

"I will tell you on our way out of here. I want to leave this cursed mountains fast"

Thorum walks away, quickly getting to break apart his tent. I walk to the nearest hobgoblin and ask him the same question. Once the pillar was fixed it blinded everyone, and the witches suddenly were engulfed in flames, with Anaid throwing that monstrous spell that killed half of the harpies in one second, as well all half of the surviving men.

It has been just a day.

They didn't know anything else, only that after a few minutes of dealing with the flames both Harpies and Dubby left. My men were too busy dealing with the wounded to bother to look at anything else. Anaid was taken away by Loretta, who was harmed by the attack just like everyone else.

"...Lina?"

"Inside the third tent over there," He points at it " With Indri, she is pretty bad"

I make my way to the tent, leaving the man resting near the campfire. Looking around I count only four heads among the group, with four wargs still alive. A pile of corpses just like the witches has been made near the entrance of the camp, two wounded men surround it with wood to burn them. As I approach the tent I hear them talking.

"...I swear! You drink it like wine and it's the most disgusting thing ever, I would rather drink piss" Indri says to Lina's joyful laughter.

"You get used to the taste after a while. It grows on you" Lina replies as I enter the tent. Her smile vanishes and a sudden expression of worry appears on her face. She stands up with difficulty, having to lean on her spear "Chief! I'm sorry, I should have been at your side when you awoke"

"I'm not in danger in here, at ease" I immediately frown at this, at ease. What did I just say? Lina shares my confusion with an arched eyebrow "How is your leg?"

"... it's still attached, so it could be worse"

I kneel in front of her and get a good look at it. The feathers have been removed and the wound is closing fine, but with how deep they went, I would not be surprised if the bone has been harmed, it must hurt like hell and will likely be that way for several days. Anaid told me about those harpies, but why didn't she tell me about their ability to shoot their feathers?

"I'm fine too, thank you for your concern," Indri says loudly.

When I look at her I'm taken by surprise. She lays on her chest, her entire back covered in cloth red with spots of blood. She has returned to her normal self but sweats a lot, and the bags around her eyes are large and black.

"She shielded me from the flames...Chief, can you help her?" Lina says leaning closer to me.

"Bring...no, wait in here" I answer standing up and leaving the tent.

The warg I rode died from his wounds and most of the medicine I brought burned away too. But by gathering what was left from everything we had I commanded all men to gather at Indri's tent. For two hours I sat and one by one treated their wounds to the best of my ability. Of the men I trained only one survived, and with how bad the wounds were he could do only the bare minimum.

I managed to clean their wounds and change their bandages, as well as treat their severe burns. Their flesh is red and twisted. Some of them lost an eye and a couple of fingers. Either by the flames the day before or by my hand, once I told them that if they kept it, they could die. This is so much different from wounds of the blade.

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My men screamed and cried in pain, their entire bodies shaking by simply exposing their scorched flesh to the cold wind. One of them peed and shit himself from the pain as I cleaned his wounds. And when I was done Indri looked at me with such fear, having heard everything that happened outside of her tent.

She too wailed. I admit that by that point even I found it difficult to keep a steady hand. I had seen my men pop bones back into place, and survive multiple bolts in their bodies. But the wounds made by the fire...how it affected them. It made my stomach turn.

But it had to be done.

All the while I stared at my own body. Scarless and quickly healing, the wound on my chest caused by the ball of flame was by now the size of my thumb. I know that while my men broke apart as I treated them, they watched my healing body with envy and anger...and now, a part of me does too. It is amazing not to have to go through the same pain...but this lack of pain, this distance forced upon me with my men...it doesn't feel right.

Thorum refused to have his own wounds looked at, saying he was just fine and that we needed to leave soon. I made my men take down the tents and fasten wooden rods in strategic places. They needed to rest, and even if their warrior's pride made them stand up and fake strength, I could tell they needed rest.

We lacked wargs, so with the cloth beds built, I made it so three wargs could drag my men as we made our way back home. It wasn't comfortable, but it would let them rest all they needed. With my own warg carrying Lena and dragging Indri. While Thorum and I walked behind the group since harpies could still be around, and he needed to explain some things to me.

"Now, tell me what the hell happened"

"I should have been more careful. I fucking knew it, I knew it!" He tightens his fists "That was no summoning obelisk, it was a beacon. They suck in the magic from connected obelisks for witches to cast incredibly powerful spells. That thing must be connected to the entire West section of the embrace...I'm talking dozen of obelisks. Its a miracle any of us are alive at all"

"You knew the obelisk would do this? And still fixed it?" My rage quickly forces my horns to start protruding from my forehead.

"No, the obelisks look very similar to each other. I sensed something was wrong but with the chaos around us, I didn't have any chance to stop and look deeper into it " Of course, I need to calm down "...look, I told you I was working with Morgana and some people to discover some stuff. Scarlett is old. Old enough to remember the name of the human kingdom before the Luath name took the throne. And we know that she has no love for mankind...all she wants is the Dawnseeker"

"A weapon"

"Not any weapon. It is a blade forged with the ore from the comet. The one that brought the demons to this world. And as legend says, it is the only one capable of tearing the veil of reality itself and combining this world with that of the demons. If that were true, I can't imagine what twisted nightmare would Volatia become...no, I can, it would be just like the rest of the world"

"What does the obelisk have to do with that? And how do you know she doesn't already have the sword?"

"Dawnseeker is also known as the Sword of the Hero. And now it's at the hands of a powerful human who is undergoing the trials to become a Hero. The mightiest of humankind's champions. Not only would Scarlett have to go to war against the entirety of Luath for it, but even if she held it, she can't use it. Dante cursed the blade so she could never lay hands on it"

"Dante...the god of the death from the Huani"

"That...monster. The witch who almost killed us all...the spell was too powerful, if Dante somehow felt it or, however the fuck he does to always tell when a powerful spell is cast, and finds us. We are dead, and that's that. That's why I want to return to the forest as fast as possible, we are too exposed in here"

"So he is real" That such a powerful being exists...I have been told many times he is real and I have no reason to doubt it...but it just feels, like something that powerful can't exist.

"Of course he is. I don't blame you for not thinking he is. But mark my words, the day you lay eyes upon him, will be the day everyone you know, and everything you have ever accomplished will vanish. He IS death incarnate. But I doubt he will ever deem you a threat to be dealt with. It's what he does, only personally dealing with a problem when he thinks it threatens the existence of mankind" He takes a deep breath "Let's speak of it no more, it brings bad luck...what I worry about is the Betrayer. Whatever she is brewing, it's a powerful thing, she must be getting desperate to acquire the sword"

He tries to drink from his waterskin, but it seems to be empty, so he throws it down the cliff.

"The Scarlet Dawn...and the Twilight Children. What about them?"

"...Scarlett has a group of powerful witches that control the obelisks all around the realm, and that name belongs to those who fanatically worship her instead of the demons. They think she wants to bring the demons to our world and become the eternal empress of Volatia. Outlawed by the crown, obviously, and denounced by Scarlett. But only an idiot would cut ties with a group as fanatic as them, so even if we have no proof, we are certain that they work together...and regarding the Children...I know nothing, no one does. Only that they worship demons even if they are not witches themselves, and carry out gruesome murder orgies and sacrifices in their names"

The rest of the walk is silent. This world is vast, with countless people in it, and I have just begun to see it better, more clearly. With insanely powerful beings and ancient groups...having a kingdom seems like such a distant dream. I know is not an easy ambition, but it will require more than just might and blood.

I need knowledge. And I need allies.

Hours pass, and we make it near to the forest, to the green zone. Thorum shared with me that it was his people who created the zones. They were the first cartographers from the old world to map Volatia. But as the sky is painted with warm orange, as the snow gently falls atop the trees and onto the ground...I stare at the rising columns of smoke far away in the distance, opposite from where my camp lays.

The humans are moving into the forest.