Chapter 6 – Bargain

The morning sun colored the cloudless sky deep-red, and the wind blew dry and hot. A faint smell of smoke and fresh cinders came with the gust, a constant reminder of the smoldering patches of burnt forest lying nearby.

Under these signs, the season of fire was already reaching its high point.

The harsh circumstances have forced many beasts of the region to migrate as they would always do, to escape flames and thirst.

Between the hot coals and dry riverbeds, a still-hospitable patch of the Screaming Woods, right next to a tree hollow littered by bones, has become the stage of a grand stand-off.

Two young brothers in mottled grey, the bigger one bearing scars from a searing fire, were faced with a menacing intruder. He towered above them, wearing a gold-and-crimson garment and wore a crown of blue spikes.

The brothers were predators of underbrush and caves, short-legged canines known to the humans as „Stouthounds“ – A smaller kind of beast that superficially resembles the exterior of a grey wolf, wrapped over the body of a badger, and as strong and fearsome as both combined.

Their opponent could be easily mistaken as a colorful flightless bird with a blue crown of horns, were it not for the lizard-like, powerful tail, the atavistic claws on its feathered front limbs and the rows of needle teeth visible between the edges of its beak-like maw. A foamy liquid dripped down from the half-opened jaws.

The belligerents carefully circled around eachother, not yet sure whether to perform the first strike. The brothers flashed their teeth and growled, rather out of fear than any real hope of scaring their foe. The colorful intruder responded by hissing like a serpent as he bowed forward and unfolded the plumes on his forearms to give himself the silhouette of a flaming sun.

The sight reminded the brothers of unbearably painful memories, but as much as they hoped to escape, they were not allowed to. An invisible hand in their minds would always forced them back towards their enemy, should they ever feel like turning tail.

The intruder slowly leaned his head back, locking eyes with the bigger one of the brothers. And then, his head sprung forward.

„Dodge!“

At the last split second, the Stouthound stumbled out of the way before the slimy package hit the ground. A few droplets of the dark, noxious liquid errupted from the impact and landed on his side, right where his fur has been burned off not long ago.

The sensitive skin began to immediately inflame and itch, forcing him to lick the liquid off – Only to feel as if he dipped his tongue in a red ant hill.

„Attack, you idiots! Attack!“

From there on out, it turned into a chaotic tussle with no plan. The intruder, of a draconid species called „Bilespitter“, was caught off-guard by the two stouthound brothers who pushed forward in spite of any common sense. All parties hit the ground and red feathers started to litter the forest floor. The bilespitter performed sweeping strikes with his strong legs, sending the smaller brother tumbling into a bush. As the draconid finally managed to stand back up, the two stouthounds were already upon him again.

„Go for the legs now!“

Like rabid anklebiters, the brothers furiously snapped at the bilespitter’s haunches. After a brief grapple, the big brother has lost his grip from exhaustion, allowing the bilespitter to shake off the other one and make a dishonorable, limping escape.

The danger was finally driven out, and not long after did their pack leader emerge from the upper branches of a nearby tree.

A pale-grey feline with a scaly tail descended onto the grassy clearing and quickly approached the two of them. She was not bigger than the two brothers, but she exuded a dreadful presence that they could not help but submit to.

„Sorry to put you through this, but I knew you would easily beat that pushover!“

Alva spoke to them in a reassuring tone, disregarding whether her underlings did actually understand her or not.

But the praise clearly seemed to satisfy them, judging from their wagging tails and the face slobbering she received from the two pups as she carefully scritched their heads with her claws.

Those two adolescents have been her „pack“ for a month now, even though they were still hardly capable of proper hunting.

She has met the two of them shortly after the forest fires of the season have started. On lookout for easy pickings she came across the brothers, who were covered in ash and soot, and all by themselves. They likely lost their family to a sudden firestorm as they were abandoning their den, so Alva decided to take pity on them and share her meals.

She decided to call the younger brother „Rain“, and the older one „Snow“, thinking that it may bring them a bit more luck in the future. Initially she thought of simply leaving the two by the wayside, but she would decide to see them as an investment for the future instead.

The whole month she spent taking care of the two, using a lot of her time to gather healing herbs to treat Snow’s infected burns, and also using them as subjects to train her voice of dominion. Even though her feelings were mixed about it, if she could coordinate them effectively, it would boost the survival chances of all three of them.

She inspected the tree hollow she called home – As the recent season of fire had started, she was forced to relocate from her previous little den after a Thornhog has decided to occupy it without a second thought.

Rather than to confront the stocky creature covered in thick skin and sharp quills, she deemed it more reasonable to simply relocate.

This was the first time a beast like this would dare encoach on Stalker’s territory, but it seems like the animals of this forest are growing ever bolder and start to ignore her scent marks.

She tried out the voice of dominion on that Thornhog, but she was sadly still too weak to affect such a strong beast.

Even coordinating Rain and Snow as she did before took a toll on her energy reserves – To give them commands like „follow me“ put a constant, albeit negligable burden on her, but something like „bite this huge animal“ still demanded a lot of aetherial power and concentration from Alva.

Not only would she have to command a beast during a heated battle, she would also have to put up her willpower against her subject’s natural fear instinct while also looking out for herself – A good reason to sit on a safe lookout as her underlings do the dirty work.

Alva commanded the stouthounds to rest for now, and watch over the hollow as she went to catch something to eat. For a moment she looked back at them as they rested silently. It was surprising how vulnerable they both seemed.

She wondered whether that was how Stalker felt whenever she left Alva and the other whelps behind.

When Alva came back to her den with a mouthful of fresh fish, a familiar black raven was already perching on top of the hollow tree. Considering how she had her peace from Gemini for almost two months, she almost started to miss him a bit.

„Well… what’s the occasion?“ She greeted the black bird after dropping the luggage from her fangs.

„It is nothing special that brings me here… I was simply worried about you, considering how savage this year’s fires have been - I suspect that the elemental spirits of the central mountain have become riled up, due to the moons. But it seems that you are doing well enough.

Although, i find it amusing what manner of servants you found yourself.“

„As if you came here just to make some snide comment, you bird. I have meant to ask you something for quite some time: It is not just you who pulls the strings here, right? There must be someone who works with you, someone who gives you orders!“

Gemini threw her a surprised glance.

„And what makes you think that there are some ‚Strings being pulled‘? I am just a friend to your mother and her family, nothing more. Even if I am a bit abrasive, I admit, I always cared about you!“

„That could be true, but you don’t strike me as the charitable kind. You gain nothing from us but a load of work.

And besides… there are some things that do not add up. I feel like we are out-of-place in this forest, the other beasts are very... unlike us. I was born to Stalker, but there was never a mention of who our father is!

If you truly are our ‚friend‘, there is no reason to keep anything secret!“

Gemini fell silent. Alva looked at him sternly, waiting for an answer.

„That is what makes you so fun, Alva. You try to question things, while the others just worry about their next meal. You may even be smarter than Swift…“

„So I was right! Who or what is it? And what do they want?“

„Who they are does not matter, Alva. What matters is their plan, and the fact that you are already partaking in it.“

„Now you are just fucking with me, right! I can’t remember doing anything but going about my day as usual. What the hell is your guy’s deal?“

„The best servants do what you need them to all by themselves. You grow, gain strength and eventually fate will force your hand. When the time comes, I will indulge your desire for answers. Just know that both your and our goals align.“

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„So what’s the deal with the secrecy, then? Tell me a name at least!“, Alva shouted.

„What do you think makes you worthy of knowing their name?“, Gemini answered in a more serious tone.

Alva was confused for a moment. She never heard of any special hierarchy, aside from the forest’s natural order of who-eats-whom.

„Worthy? What do you mean by that? Are they that important?“

Gemini was shocked for a moment as he realized that he may have already spoken too much. He knew well that keeping my identity secret for now served to protect me.

„Indeed… there are things you are not meant to know. Mere possession of this knowledge could put you in harm’s way!“

„Huh.“, Alva simply grunted in disbelief.

„Indeed. Now I have to bid my farewells. I am very busy, as you can see.“

And with that, Gemini took off. Alva had her peace once again, and so she proceeded to give Rain and Snow their share. As the den started to become noisy with their savage feasting, Alva stepped outside for a moment.

The night sky has turned a murky grey-red from the ongoing wildfires, but the brightest of stars still shone through, together with a bright orange moon. There was also the familiar green moon observable in the sky, slowly waning into a thin crescent.

Alva took some time to ponder whether that secretive entity looming above truly acted in her interest, or what their motives could be.

Alas, she could not come up with a satisfying answer to her own question, so she focused her energy on planning her next steps. Her current den is neither particularily defensible, nor is it very robust. And she would likely have to deal with further intruders soon.

With how things stood, Alva desperately wanted to leave for a better place, so she spent her next days scouting for abandoned caves and hollows. The giant trees of the forest were full of large holes carved by birds and insects, but were unfeasable considering Rain’s and Snow’s lack of climbing ability.

What Alva really needed was a natural cave like Stalker’s – Even though it meant that she would have to compete for a place with some of the most fierce creatures of the forest. But Alva was aware of the fact, that she would not know peace until she did find a new, safer abode soon.

...

It was only a day later when Alva and her underlings returned to see the area around their squalid home overrun by a whole horde of Bilespitters. The draconid beasts were in season despite the wildfires, and even more ranbunctious than usual as the males fought eachother over mating rights and territory.

It did not take a genius to see that it was unfeasible to take back the area by force, and so Alva opted to observe them for a while, in hopes that they may just move on.

Stalking around the area, it was clear that the draconids had no intention of leaving – Rather, the females have already started building their large ground nests out of twigs and dry moss.

„Nope, that place is a lost cause.“, She silently resignated.

After scouting the woods for the next few days, it was apparent that Stalker’s territory as whole has shrunken for some reason. Her fading scent markings on the outer borders have long been overwritten by other scents, and many large creatures that she has never seen before took shortcuts through what was essentially forbidden ground up until then.

One day she encountered a tortoise-like draconid who was armored like a small castle (and of similar size) and swung around a massive bony mace attached to its tail. Such behemoths were easy to avoid, as they did not even notice Alva while they were feeding off bushes and tree bark. But soon after, she would encounter the creature that preyed upon those „Mountain-Shells“: An equally gigantic, bipedal predator with green scales and a massively oversized head with terrible razor teeth.

A forest tyrant.

Despite their size, they were able to stay still like statues within the vegetation, shooting forward with the force of a thundering landslide when appropiate prey was within reach. Luckily for Alva, these creatures did not consider her an appropiate meal. At least not the fully-grown ones.

What was truly troublesome were the different smaller species that followed in their wake. As Alva was busy looking for a new cave while hunting for food, she had to avoid crossing the paths of flightless „Terror Birds“ twice the height of a man on many occasions. Being somewhere between a forest tyrant and a stouthound on the food chain, they were perfectly capable of delivering a deadly blow with their hooked beaks.

Alva would learn of this soon enough, as she one day attempted to send Snow and Rain to bring down a seperated and confused juvenile. Considering how the prey animals of the forest became more scarce and cautious with the uptick in hungry predators, she decided to accept this rare opportunity.

Hoping to find an easy meal, the three of them performed a successful ambush, not realizing that its parent was merely concealed nearby.

It all happened in a single instance. As the scarred Snow barked and growled to warn his feeding brother and Alva, the adult terror bird was already upon them. With furious kicks it drove them away from its offspring’s dead body, stomping Snow into the dust and sending the other two scrambling away to safety.

Being under such a sudden attack, Alva found herself unable to exert the powers of her voice. She urged Snow to run for his life, but he was too dazed to react. As the terror bird approached the bruised Stouthound, Alva once again started to feel a familiar rush of power growing throughout her body. Her legs were preparing to launch her forward, and her body started to exhibit the radiant tiger stripes again, just like back then.

But she hesitated for a moment, as the instinct at the back of her head urged her to leave Snow behind. Rain was confused – he likely hasn’t realized his brother’s situation yet, and was looking around for him.

„Is this worth the risk? I could just take Rain and escape… with his wounds, Snow isn’t even that useful to me… huh!?“

Alvas thoughts were interrupted as Rain engaged in a reckless charge towards the much larger assailant. He has just now realized the state his brother is in, and flung himself at the terror bird, ferociously biting down on its powerful, thick-skinned haunch. He applied his experience from the tussle with the Bilespitter, but he alone was not strong enough for the task.

The younger Stouthound was promptly shaken off. As the beast changed its focus to finish Rain off, Alva finally released the enhancing energy of her aether art, sending her towards the terror bird’s neck. She bit down with all her might and sunk her claws into the muscular appendage, which sent it into a savage state.

Alva tasted blood, but her teeth were stopped at the vertebrae. Just as she let go and realigned to deliver the killing bite, her claws could no longer hold on. They ripped through the terror bird’s skin as she was flung forward like an inept horserider and send into the dust.

The next thing Alva saw after she regained her footing was how Rain charged towards his wounded brother, Snow, and guarded him against the towering beast. His resistence did not last long.

The terror bird shot its head forward, closing the edges of its hawk-like beak around Rain’s neck and lifting him up. Alva leapt back onto the beast’s back as it began to furiously shake its victim, like a stouthound would a long-ear. She once again rushed aetherial energy through her body, and ripped into the terror bird’s jugular like a savage whilrwind.

After a brief struggle, their opponent stumbled backwards, and finally collapsed as blood gushed from its mortal wound.

Alva was struck by a familiar bout of weakness as her aetherial markings turned black once again. But this time, she was a bit stronger and managed to keep herself on her legs.

She slowly shambled towards where Snow and Rain fell to the ground, to see one of the brothers propping himself back up.

It was Snow, who was lightly bleeding from cuts and scratches alongside his fresh burn scars, but appeared to be fine aside from a light limp.

Rain on the other hand was not so lucky. As he was trying to protect his older brother, the terror bird’s beak twisted his neck into an unnatural angle. Now he was just lying there, neither breathing nor moving.

Alva simply felt an uncomfortable clump forming inside her throat as she stood there, completely still.

Snow noticed the smell of his deceased brother and moved towards him. He circled around him in puzzlement, looking towards Alva a few times.

As the reality of the situation closed in on Snow, he started to whine and growl in agitation. Standing over his brothers corpse, he yelled and growled in all directions. After a while he went silent and sat down beside the lifeless body.

„Come, Snow. We cannot stay here.“, Alva commanded him with her aethervoice. Against his will, he left his younger brother behind as he and Alva searched for a suitable den.

…

Stalker’s den smelled of bile and disease, as the last month has not been kind to the she-beast. Unseen under her dark fur, the black Stigmata have been pulsating vividly, turning every step into a test of strength and depriving her of much-needed sleep. Stalker was sprawled over the cool cave floor, breathing heavily in her half-asleep fever state. She was only able to hunt sparingly, and her weigth loss was already visible.

A burning feeling has been radiating from the ritual scar on her stomach, a sigil that remained from the forbidden art I performed on her long before she gave birth to her offspring.

„Emyl… I know that you are seeing me…“, she called out against the barren cave wall.

„Tell me…! This is no poison, nor some monster’s curse…“

Of course not. I saw it many times before. Her struggle was the typical aftereffect of a powerful ritual, a remnant of the reality-bending art I had cast on her. She may have been strong enough to surpress the resulting curse for a whole year, but it kept eating away at her vitality. Not unlike my own curse, really…

„Great Emyl… lend me your aid! After all, I always did as you told me!“, Stalker continued, almost as if in prayer.

As if answering, a voice emanated from the cave’s exit.

„You are being melodramatic, Stalker“, Gemini called into the nest from the tunnels.

„It is you again, raven… What brings you here?“

„You were asking for help, were you not? I am sure our master heard you, rest assured. You can’t rush a spirit’s help or else you invite misfortune!“

„Of course… I will just wait until the season of fire has passed, maybe I will be still alive ´til then.“

„Do not worry about it too much, dear Stalker. You are simply paying part of the bargain that Master Emyl’s ritual has imposed on you. It will not kill you, and its effect will subside shortly.“

„There was never a mention of such a ‚bargain‘! Emyl has betrayed our agreement… urgh!“

„Well, you never asked about it. And Emyl keeps his end of the bargain: you get to live, even after you have suffered such a grievous wound. And all that was expected of you was to become a vessel to bear his strongest servants yet.“

„You are right.“

„Of course I am.“

„But one thing confuses me still…“

„And what would that be?“

„My offspring was not conceived naturally, as you know. I never mated, all I did was to hunt down and devour the beating hearts of four humans, as a sacrifice for the ritual. Yet I gave birth to five children… there is something you keep from me.“

„I am not sure myself, Stalker. The nature of this ritual eludes me, aside from the fact that it created a handful of peculiar children with great potential.“

I believe that you should not worry too much about it. Just rest, and let your children help you for once, so that you may return to your full strength soon.“

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