Xavier followed Lianna as she left the gates of Verdantspire Haven. They exited the settlement to the east and were almost immediately engulfed by the dense forest. He nearly jumped out of his skin when after only a few hundred meters there was suddenly the huge form of Frostclaw running between him and the iskari. Angling his path slightly to give him more distance from the dangerous predator.
While they ran, he received a prompt he had never seen before.
Lianna wishes to add you to her party. Do you accept? Yes or No.
He smiled, she may not be keen on him, but it seemed she would follow the elder’s request and allow him to join and aid in the mission. He mentally selected yes and suddenly his interface updated to include small images of Lianna, Liosan and Frostclaw along with bars for their Health, Stamina, and Mana. While he examined those a small icon of a winged foot overlaying a small copse of trees appeared beside each picture and his speed tripled.
He couldn’t help but laugh in joy as he sprinted through the nighttime forest, the branches and underbrush seeming to almost move out of his way. Focusing on the icon he found out it was called “Forest Runner” and he, like the rest of the party had been granted it by Lianna. His eyes almost bulged out of his head when he focused on her image and was given a brief but updated character sheet.
Name: Lianna Froststride
Race: Snow Panther Animari (Iskari)
Disposition: Wary - Neutral
Level: 27
Class: Ranger (Beastmaster)
Active Effects: Forest Runner, Beast Bonding
Description
Description: The Iskari are a race of Animari descended from snow leopards, renowned for their stealth, resilience, and connection to cold, mountainous regions. With pale skin marked by faint rosette patterns and thick, snow-like hair streaked with silver or black, they move with feline grace and precision. Their piercing blue or gray eyes reflect sharp intelligence and a predatory nature. The Iskari thrive in harsh environments, leveraging their exceptional agility and survival instincts. Fiercely loyal and protective of their kin, they are skilled hunters, trackers, and warriors, embodying the quiet strength and adaptability of their snow leopard heritage.
Stats
Health: 200/200
Stamina: 210/210
Mana: 170/170
She was more than four times his own level, no wonder he hadn’t been able to see much about her with his novice insight skill. That in turn only made him more curious about the levels of the elders. Maybe with practice and luck, along with earning more trust, he would eventually be able to learn more about them as well. He had a new goal now, to grow his skill and level to be equivalent to the twins to start. He lumped them together in his goal because a quick glance at Liosan confirmed he was of the same level but a rogue, assassin.
He increased his speed a little to catch up to Lianna, while still remaining wary of Frostclaw. “Lianna, once I prove I am not a threat and hopefully am an ally to your people would you be able to teach me more about your beast bonding? I have befriended a shadowmane panther…” He was amazed at how easy it was to talk despite running at the speed that they were. When he mentioned Valkra however she cut him off suddenly.
“You managed to not only find but befriend a shadowmane?” She asked incredulously. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him again, their speed not slowing as they dodged and wove at breakneck speed through the forest. “They are extremely rare, hardly ever leave the Shattered Expanse. Duskhari have fits trying to bond with them and they are the most proficient in making that connection. When did you travel to those forsaken lands?” Her questions were pointed and bespoke her doubt in the human.
Xavier broke down how he and Ella had first found Valkra and her mother, the fight with the shardfang wolves, the elder shadowmane’s death, and the cub’s seeming attachment. As he spoke, she interrupted asking for specific details. When he finished, she went silent for a while, and they continued to run. He did not notice as she glanced at him sidelong. Her wariness over working with him slowly waned as she wondered more and more about a human who could win the faithfulness of something as wonderous as a shadowmane and seemed to actually care about animari.
“You told the elders that your village is made up of survivors from another raid? Bramblegate was it not? I have seen it on some maps, it was not small. You mean for me to believe that it was destroyed?” She queried attentively turning to look at him several times while she spoke.
“Sadly yes, the whole reason Ella and I were heading to Bramblegate was to see if we could recruit people to help build Rynthavael. It was not long after we found Valkra that Ella and I saw the smoke rising in the distance. We could not run as fast through the woods as you seem to be able to, however, and by the time we got there it was all but done. We found a few still being tormented in the village proper and with their aid killed the remaining guards to free those that were in caged wagons. They all joined me, Ella, and Valkra in returning to Rynthavael. Several animari were amongst them and I am proud to call them friends. One of them helped me increase my skill in archery. She’s a part of the town guard now.”
Lianna slowed to a walk, Frostclaw coming to her side and she rested a hand on the great cat’s head. “I want to see this village sometime. I doubted that humans would work and live side by side with animari in Bramblegate but seems I had missed my chance to see if the rumors were true.” Her face darkened in anger, “It is not like that in many lands, my people are hunted and enslaved in the wildlands.”
Xavier’s face showed his shock and horror at that. Something that did not escape the iskari while they walked. Something fundamental in him railed at that concept. While he knew that slavery existed in Arath, talking with his villagers had revealed how institutionalized it was in the world, subjugating a whole people just because of who they were was more than he could rationalize.
They resumed their run in silence for a while longer, the mountains loomed on the horizon as they came closer to the Ironpeak range. Suddenly Lianna came to an abrupt stop. She looked upwards and Xavier followed her example, Liosan seemed to just appear out of the shadows. As seemed to be his usual, he was hanging from his knees the oddity though was the fact he was casually cutting and eating an apple in that precarious position. The strange assassin waved casually but silently to his sister before he turned narrowed eyes on Xavier.
In a hushed voice, Lianna called up to her brother. “He is here on the bidding of the High Speaker. She charged him to help us deal with the raiders. He also swore thrice that he intends to do us no harm.” She folded her arms, her body language indicated that she was done with that topic. “Have you managed to find where the raiders are camped?”
Liosan straightened his legs, losing his perch. As he fell, he performed an odd twisting motion and landed on his feet, holding a slice of apple to his mouth with what looked to be a wickedly sharp blade. Taking a bite, he nodded and gestured towards the mountains in the distance. Xavier’s jaw dropped at the casual indifference the twins had at the unbelievable physical feat the assassin had just performed with such ease.
Lianna performed her customary eyeroll at the vagueness of her brother's gesture. “You know full well that you need to tell us more than just waving your hand.” She pulled a folded map from one of her belt pouches and opened it. Opening it she shifted to stand beside Frostclaw and lay the map on the cat’s back. From the lack of reaction, Xavier assumed this was a common occurrence, that or the leopard simply trusted the ranger that much. Liosan moved to the other side of the cat and looked at the map for several long moments before he finally rested a finger on it. The location was only about a mile north of where they currently were. Xavier smiled inwardly as his interface map updated with a new icon indicating the raiders camp.
The now quartet took off running toward the raiders camp. It was only a matter of minutes to cover the distance, and they were soon creeping through the underbrush. Xavier trailed the others mentally cursing every broken branch or rustle of leaves he made. Compared to the others he felt like he sounded as if an elephant was stomping through the brush. Despite his hesitation, they soon crested a ridge within the foothills and were able to overlook the camp.
Below them, the makeshift camp lay in a small valley of the foothills. It gave the raiders a semi-defensible position with their tents towards the back of the valley. The larger wagons with the slaves were in the center of the camp near the fire, and their other wagons were placed in a semi-circle facing the front of the valley and acting as a pseudo-wall. Overhead two moons hung low in the night sky, their red and purple light lending to an ominous illumination when mixed with the flickering light of fire the raiders had set. Xavier found himself thankful to have the powerful trio with him. There were a lot more raiders below than had been in the remaining group from the Bramblegate attack and the tents could hold a large number as well. As he watched small symbols began to appear in the air over the heads of individuals below.
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Xavier’s eyes widened as the number continued to grow, especially as he realized they were marks over each of the raiders. When the symbols stopped appearing he could count fifteen enemies including four very large wolves. Several of the symbols moved around the perimeter of the camp mostly. Xavier felt his shoulders drop. He had no idea how the handful of them could take on such a large force. That, however, was when Lianna started whispering.
She gestured to several of the perimeter marks on the far side of the camp. “Go take care of them, brother, when I see their marks vanish, I will take care of the closest two and Frostclaw will kill the wolf with them.” She glanced towards Xavier, “Stay close to me we will be moving into the camp after the sentries fall. I will silence at least two more as we do that but as soon as my arrows strike in the firelight, they will sound the alarm. I trust that those blades are more than just for show.”
Xavier nodded his assent and checked the swords in their scabbards, they slid free easily the couple inches he pulled them. “I am with you Lianna. Your people will breathe free air tonight or I will die trying.” Inwardly he winced, breathe free air? Really? That’s what he said he thought to himself. Gods, what the hell was he trying to prove with such vainglorious statements?
Lianna eyed him a moment then shook her head slightly. “I will hold you to that human.” She gestured towards Liosan, and the assassin disappeared. He didn’t just fade into the woods he quite literally disappeared from view. Once more Xavier felt jealous of the skills and abilities of these two powerful individuals. Jealousy and an overwhelming desire to improve himself to their strength. He owed that to the people who followed him, he owed that to the animari he was hoping to ally his village with, he owed that to himself. He reaffirmed his commitment to improving his skills and level once he got back to his lands.
It was nearly twenty tense minutes before the first of the marks on the opposite side of the camp vanished. As it did Lianna started to move, crouched low she unslung her bow and nocked an arrow. Carefully she, Xavier, and Frostclaw started down the ridge. Frostclaw slunk off into the woods partway down, clearly heading towards the mark that was moving where Xavier had last seen one of the wolves. He pondered for a brief moment how the cat knew when to leave and could only end up assuming it was due to that effect known as beast bonding. He truly hoped that she could teach him that in the future. Shaking his head he refocused on the present. It would do no good to plan for the future if he couldn’t survive what was to come.
The second mark on the opposite side of the camp vanished, it was followed shortly by a brief noise and the mark where the wolf had been vanishing as well. Three of the number were gone without an alarm made Xavier feel a lot more hopeful about their prospects. He nearly ran into the back of Lianna when she stopped and drew her bow. He could see the mark over the head of another individual just ahead of them. The only sound of warning the raider received was a soft thwip and whistle of air that caused him to turn their direction before the arrow embedded in his eye killing him instantly. As his body fell to the ground Lianna already had a second arrow drawn and within seconds it flew as well. It caught her second target in the throat leaving them only able to make a soft gurgling noise as they crumpled as well.
The perimeter of the camp was broken, and no further observed sentries were left alive to raise an alarm. That left the small group of attackers free to move inward. As they crept closer to the camp Xavier noticed a small faintly glowing mark in the dirt. He gestured to Lianna to wait and inched closer to the oddity. As he did so its shape came more into view. An unusual series of sigils wound in a small spiral and there was something about them that only piqued his interest more. He held up his hand to Lianna indicating he would need a little more time to inspect the disturbance.
Xavier carefully placed his hands near but not crossing where he envisioned the line of the mark would be perpendicular to the camp. Something internally loudly sounded that warning to him and he opted to trust that voice. As he studied the small sigils he had a realization that he was seeing his first true rune. Not the mundane ones that he had seen in the entry hall to the deeps but a true magic rune.
Congratulations you have discovered a new rune: Warding Rune of Alarm – This rune will generate a loud alarm sound when triggered.
Xavier felt giddy, his class was coming into play again. It took only a couple moments to be able to identify how the rune was constructed and thus how to deconstruct it. Focusing his will on several of the small sigils he imagined them inverting slowly. To his delight they followed his desire and moments later the rune winked out of existence. Checking his interface, he smiled broadly as the tab under his Rune Engraver class that listed his known runes held its first one. He also had a skill up in his rune deciphering skill. He had not expected a single rune to provide that but maybe the rune was more complex than it had seemed.
He motioned to Lianna that he was done with what he was doing. She had moved up to his side and scowled not seeing anything until the brief flash as the rune was broken down. She nodded to Xavier and moved forward once again.
Taking cover behind one of the wagons Lianna and Xavier peered around to see what had changed around the campfire in the intervening minutes since they had left their overwatch. The fire was still surrounded by several individuals. One of them actually had the remaining three wolves lying around him. He was busy cleaning and sharpening a small dagger, occasionally he would test the blade, cutting a chunk of meat from a large portion that lay on the table at his side. He would inspect the cut and the blade before tossing the chunk to one of the wolves and resuming his work. The others, four of them, ate meat of their own and passed a small drinking skin between themselves. Though they were not overly boisterous, it became clear that the liquid in the skin was alcoholic in nature.
Still unaware of how many of them remained in the tents Xavier and Lianna exchanged a glance before she rose over the edge of the wagon and loosed an arrow into the man with the wolves. He heard the thwip and managed to shift enough to take the arrow in the shoulder instead of the throat. Lianna spat a curse and loosed two more arrows in quick succession, but the moment of surprise was past. The wolves she struck howled in pain staggering slightly before regaining their footing and charging towards the duo.
That was when Frostclaw made their presence known. The giant leopard barreled out of the shadows and bowled over two of the three wolves, knocking them to the ground in a single pounce. Its weight held them pinned while it raked bloody furrows in their fur and bit down on the back of the neck of one. The third wolf turned its attention to that struggle and started to snap at the back of the cat's legs, slowly working its way around to try and get the beast’s throat.
The raiders scrambled as well snatching up swords and halberds to join in the fray. The one who had been struck by the arrow yelled in pain and anger and Xavier could hear movement in the tents. He pulled Vaeltheris and the emberstone blade free of their sheaths and ran forward. The fire-aspected sword flashed towards a guard with a halberd before she could bring it up to defend herself. She screamed in pain as the blade not only struck her forearms, causing her to drop her weapon but left smoking wounds behind in her flesh. Turning from her he lunged with Vaeltheris toward one of the sword-wielding guards. He was ready for the attack however and was able to deflect the deadly blade to the side.
Lianna weighed into the melee now, she had pulled a long dagger from her belt and swung the length of her bow about as if it was a short stave. The pairing was destructive as her bow would knock weapons aside only for her to step into the gap and leave deep bleeding wounds or death behind with her dagger.
Xavier was too busy with his own challenge to pay too much attention to the ranger and her bestial companion. Several more raiders had emerged from the tents and were moving to surround him. One of the newer ones actually carried a weighted net in one hand and a cudgel in their other. Xavier kept shifting to try and always keep someone else between him and that individual as he doubted that he could escape the net if it was brought into play.
Then over the din of the combat a voice could be heard rising from the central tent. Suddenly a wave of energy flashed from within and Xavier could see his health bar along with the rest of his team drop suddenly. His drop was much more significant due to his smaller pool, however. He grunted in pain as the necrotic energy sapped his life but still managed to push back the blade that was coming towards his belly. The flap of the tent parted, and a man clad in dark robes with a glinting collar around his throat stepped out. Raising his hands, one holding a long white colored staff he began chanting once again. The collar at his throat flashed briefly then went dark as his words continued. Luckily it was then that Liosan suddenly appeared, a large impish grin on his face as he winked at the caster and drove his dagger into the gap beneath the man’s upraised right arm forcing him to relinquish his hold on the staff. The blade stopped the utterance of words before he crumpled to the ground screaming and clutching his head with his uninjured arm. Liosan fell atop him repeatedly driving his dagger into the hunched form.
The sound of fighting and the wave of magic had shaken the stupor from the captives in the cages. They cried out in fear and pain, the magic had taken from their health as well. Shrinking back away from the fighting their anguish added to the confusion of the battle as it kept drawing Xavier’s attention as he hoped the slavers wouldn’t turn weapons on them to force a surrender.
On the other side of the fight Frostclaw was ravaging the remaining two wolves. This elicited a cry of rage as the man who had been feeding them as he finally regained his feet. He had managed to pull the arrow from his shoulder and a small rivulet of blood traced down his scale armor. One hand held the long pole of a man-catcher while his other shook out the braided and barbed coils of a ugly and vicious looking whip. His anger turned upon Lianna as she was the closest to him. Soon the crack and whistle of the whip sounded through the night air and cries of pain came from Lianna when she could not avoid its cutting strikes. She did, however, manage to knock aside the man-catcher every time he tried to bring its barbed loop towards her.
Xavier’s blades left blood and agony in their wakes, though he was not as skilled as the other two of his party, his opponents seemed to be the lesser armed and armored raiders. Part of him felt cheated at being left with the seeming dregs of their enemies, another much louder part of him shouted that first part into submission and was just thankful to be alive and only minimally injured.
With a shout of victory he thrust and twisted Vaeltheris, its keen edge parted the leather armor of his last opponent before it parted the flesh of their belly. Hot innards spilled from the wound leaving the man disemboweled and falling to his knees trying to hold the viscera in place. Xavier turned to move towards Lianna when he caught the briefest of movements from the corner of his eye, the flap of the main tent had parted once again and a large man wearing a dark metal half plate armor. He held twinned scimitars in his hands and one of them caught Xavier in the calf. His body seized almost immediately as a new pain surged through his body. Lightning had coursed from the blade into his form leaving him immobile and helpless, just long enough for the hulking man’s second blade to drive forward, its edge easily parting the hardened leather of Xavier’s cuirass and sinking into his chest.
Darkness encroached on his vision as the smirking raider pulled his blade free and turned to face the others. Miles away a horrified and pained scream echoed in a suddenly empty room, the bed disheveled by the abrupt vanishing of its occupant.
Time lost all meaning as he slipped into the void, the tumultuous noise of the melee muffled by the slowly diminishing beat of his own heart in his ears. Soon even that noise stopped, and Xavier knew nothingness.
The saga continues in Book 2 – Shadows Over the Wildlands.