The {Crusader} had to give the young sisters credit. Where a more pragmatic individual in their line of work may have voiced dissent over allowing someone to wander into town and, in essence, edge in on their livelihood by offering free arts-based healing to their potential customers; the two girls seemed genuinely eager to spread the word as requested. This served to further improve Estelle’s impression of them, demonstrating at length their genuine goodwill and concern for those they offered care for.
Still, the gathering that came to the square was small. Much smaller than it should have been, at the least, based off Estelle’s estimations given the conditions of the homes she had passed along her way. She watched the meager gaggle of townsfolk as they congregated near the edge of the garden area, suppressing her frown as they all seemed hesitant to approach her. Finally, after some awkward length, an elderly beastkin woman stepped out of the crowd and offered the {Crusader} an apologetic nod of the head as she made her way over.
Her hair still held its vibrant red-orange colour, but the fur of her feline ears and tail was graying and worn. She had prior till been walking with the support of what appeared to be her grandson, the boy clinging to her hesitantly as she made to approach Estelle.
“Wait, grandmama–”
“It’s alright, Cainen.” She shushed the boy, his hand falling away as he remained with the rest of the group, timidly hiding behind the legs of another man nearby despite her placation.
As she approached the broken runestone by which Estelle stood, the {Crusader} reached out for the woman, helping her settle upon one of the halves. The destruction of the gate may have been unfortunate, but Julie seemed to have the right of it at least, the remains served perfectly as a bench.
“It seemed like someone needed to go first.” The woman commented playfully.
“I appreciate your trust. Who better to set the example than the wizened gray? It takes some time for a laguz to show their age, you must have many stories to tell.”
The beastkin chortled at that, and once she was comfortably seated Estelle reached to her belt, retrieving a silver canister engraved top to bottom with holy sigils. Removing the lid revealed it to be filled with consecrated oil, a rich gold in colour, with a scent like sandalwood and amber. She dabbed her fingers in the liquid, anointing the top of the woman’s head softly as she offered a blessing, gesturing afterwards for her to lay back against the stone.
“My name is Estelle Celeste. Please allow me to assess your physical condition.”
“You’re an outworlder, aren’t you.” The elderly woman asked with a faint smile.
Estelle looked up, expecting to find disapproval in the woman’s face, but upon being greeted with the soft expression she met it with a smile of her own.
“Yes. Is it so easy to tell?”
“Hm.. Not at a glance.. But you give blessings in the same manner as the old priests of Aerondar. Also, hardly anyone calls us ‘laguz’ nowadays, folk tend to use ‘beastkin’ now.”
“I see… I hope I have not given offense.” Estelle committed that information to memory while she carefully helped the woman lay down upon the length of stone, pressing her palms into the top of the woman’s head to begin channeling [Diagnose Living].
“Are you a kindred spirit, then, if you would cite Aerondar's clergy?”
“No, no offense.. And no, although I was born in Tenebris, it was long after the manifestation of Chaos.. As a child I made many visits to the temple district– My mother was a Fang, you see.”
Estelle paused for a moment, looking over the elderly woman in surprise. [Truthseeker] offered no resistance to the words, and the {Crusader} cleared her throat before moving on with [Projected Heal]ing after the results of her previous assessment revealed deep bruising, hairline fractures in the left iliac region, and lingering tissue damage from frostbite.
“To serve beneath the White Fang... That’s not a thing many can claim.”
“Nor would many want to, I imagine.” The woman responded with a rueful tone.
The forces of Tenebris, in both their old world and this current one, were divided by function and identified by colour. The infamous Black Vanguard was the most known, not only as they were the most numerous, but due to the fact that they held the public eye; serving as guards within the city walls when not engaged in primary infantry duties. Second in size was the Crimson Fleet, a naval armada wherein each ship came equipped with a heavy contingent of {Battle Mages} meant to wage war on the high seas. The highly specialized Azure Lancers came third, experts of mounted combat, {Dragoon}s who could fight both on land and in the sky from horse or wyvernback. Lastly, there were the elusive members of the White Fang.
A group so small yet so embellished that certain countries doubted their existence as anything more than a psyop meant to stir fear around Tenebris’ information capabilities. Specializing in intelligence, espionage, internal affairs, and assassination– there were endless rumors to be had about the Fangs and very few hard knowns. Namely; that they were all female, all laguz, and that they answered only to the Praetor’s right hand general and closest companion, Souzen Kiiruh. An ethereally beautiful swan-clan laguz– her hair as white as the wings she once owned before they had been sawn off her back– her throat likewise marred by a jagged scar which had rendered her mute. It was this iconic trait in specific which had resulted in her informal title amongst the populous, the Silent Matriarch.
The {Crusader} could certainly see where a life tied to them could be difficult. It also potentially explained the desire to relocate to a remote village in order to raise a family.
“For what little it may be worth, my interactions with the Fang were always pleasant.” She offered in condolence as she helped the woman up to her feet, causing her catlike ears to twitch curiously in response.
“Ho? I may not be the only one with a deceptive number of years behind me.”
“Perhaps not.” Estelle ceded quietly.
Before her first patient returned to the crowd, the {Crusader} clasped her hands around the woman’s own and manifested [Vitalize] through her body, a sustainment art which granted energy, recuperation and nutrition– typically used in conjunction with healing arts to combat blood loss– but in this instance eliminating the faint traces of vitamin deficiency the woman had been bordering on. The old laguz smiled at the warmth, her ears perking happily as a rosier colour returned to her cheeks.
“You have my sincerest gratitude, Miss Celeste. My name is Raesha. Please call on me again if you’re ever passing through, I would love to sit you down for a meal.”
“Please, Estelle is enough. Should I travel here again, I will gladly accept your invitation.”
After the initial tension had been broken down somewhat by Raesha’s example, the rest of the crowd were able to be coaxed one by one onto the stone at the center of the square. For as long as they kept coming, the {Crusader} continued to provide her services, even after the time had well surpassed the originally stated hour. [Projected Healing] and [Cure] covered the majority of cases, though some of the less wealthy were in need of a [Vitalize], and one young man had lost his left arm above the elbow to what must have been a particularly clean sword cut, requiring the usage of [Greater Regeneration]. By the end she was sweating from the arts exhaustion, her hands trembling just the slightest amount, but only so much as would be noticeable to the most observant of the crowd. Still she healed them down to the last before pausing to sit upon the broken ruins herself. Eophi appeared at her side almost immediately, offering a bottle made from a treated gourd, which upon taking a grateful drink Estelle found to be filled with sweet herbal tea.
“Thank you so much, we could never repay what you’ve done.”
The herbalist muttered softly, almost ashamedly, bowing her head to the {Crusader}. Estelle placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder in response, lifting her upright.
“Raise your head. I neither seek nor require any thanks for abiding by my oaths.”
“Even if you say so, I doubt any oath you have taken beholds you to us in Thrylld.”
“That is for my conscience to decide.”
Any further back and forth was cut short by Julie entering into the conversation, as she took Estelle by the hand and tugged upon her.
“At least come rest for a bit? Your hands have been shaking.”
Eophi hadn’t noticed, but it only took a few moments of closer examination to see that Julie’s words were true. Despite not wanting to appear ungrateful she couldn’t help but frown with concern.
“You didn’t need to go so far...”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Enough. It is the pride of a knight to suffer for her righteousness.” Estelle dismissed the conversation in full, and Julie’s eyes widened.
“Are you a {Knight}? But you know so many healing arts!” She exclaimed in surprise. Estelle chuckled.
“I am not.. But the principle stands.”
Hoisting her pack onto her shoulder, she stepped out of the garden and onto the main road out of town, ignoring the concerned looks of the sisters.
“As for your offer, I must decline. The loss of this gate has altered my route significantly, and already I have spent more time here than intended. I must make haste towards my next destination lest it all be for naught.”
The {Crusader} offered one last wave as she made her departure, hoping that this encounter would help reopen the hearts of the townsfolk towards wanderers and adventurers, if even a little. Crossing the threshold back into the depths of the surrounding forests, she breathed a final blessing upon Thrylld and its inhabitants.
“...May the Light be with you and yours.”
*****
**South-Central Orodae; The Emerald Spine**
29th Day of Corals
Waning sunlight gleamed against the spray of crimson blood as [Flash Edge] tore cleanly through the bodies of three gnolls, striking their unarmoured vitals with cold lethality as Estelle braced her shield against the upper body of her closest opponent in order to throw the creature aside once it fell limp.
Their warband must have been small, poor, or likely enough both; as the hulking hyena-like demi-humans were garbed with leathers and hides, and the odd portion of ill kept chain at best. Certainly not enough protection to save them from the bite of the {Crusader}’s weapon art, as for each activation it meted out three lightning quick slashes which sought out their weak points with an unnatural precision.
A pack member armed with a bundle of javelins hurled one at Estelle from a distance, which she neatly sidestepped, not even bothering to raise her shield. Instead swinging it to the side to parry a blow from the nearest surviving gnoll which had lunged at her with the tip of its jagged poleaxe, simultaneously pivoting on her front foot to catch the falchion of another with the cross of her sword as it rushed her, stopping the full force of the brutish monster in its tracks. It barely had time to look surprised before [Sunder] filled the counterplay of Estelle’s weapon with immense force, shearing the falchion in half from the bind and carrying through to take its owner’s head off.
It was strange for a gnollish warband to be this deep into uninhabited territory, or so Estelle thought as she drove the point of her weapon through another gnoll’s eyesocket. They were predatory creatures, prone to banditry and highway raids in the general sense– although not due to strategy or tact– gnolls were as limited in intelligence as most other lesser demi-humans. They were simply ultra violent, greedy, and aggressive. So much so that they were as much a danger to other monsters and demi-humans as they were to the civilized world.
Did that mean there was a small town or village nearby that they had ventured out to prey upon? Or perhaps their matriarch had been singled out and driven away from better territory by a larger, more successful pack? The {Crusader} knelt low, covering the entirety of her body with the bulwark of her shield as a volley of crude arrows slammed against it from the front, afterwards proceeding to roll out of the path of an incoming axe while she severed its wielder’s leg for his trouble.
Rising to her feet she deflected another attack with her shield, forcing the offending gnoll backwards before stomping on its one-legged packmate’s throat. As their dead mounted, this display of outright ferocity and overwhelming strength appeared to finally demoralize the few surviving members of the raiding group, and one of the archers turned to run.
There was a yelp and the dying throes of a whimper as a gigantic pike impaled the deserter through the middle, a towering female gnoll twice the size of her lessers emerging from the depths of the woods. Standing easily fourteen feet tall, the Matriarch sneered as she lifted her slain subordinate upon the haft of her pike and flung his corpse at Estelle like a meaty ragdoll.
The {Crusader}'s weapon shone white as she rent the oncoming body in twain, blood painting her front as the gnoll halves split past her on either side. Crystal blue eyes glinted defiantly in contrast against the scarlet splattered over her face as she leveled her sword, pointing it directly at her new target.
The gnoll Matriarch's heavily scarred muzzle contorted in a violent sneer at the gesture and she barked commands in their guttural language, words which Estelle needn’t know to understand the intent behind them.
The gnolls charged with a blood curdling howl which shook the woods, yet their quarry stood firm. Golden energy pulsed behind her in the likeness of wings as she cycled her buffs; [Celestial Grace], [Greater Agility], and [Amplify Self] manifesting with rapid flashes of iridescent light.
With a flurry of steel she parried multiple blows in a single second, as the foes in her immediate proximity attacked in unison at their leader's command. The Matriarch herself was not far behind due to her immense size and strength, closing the distance in matter of steps to drive her pike forward. Estelle caught the weapon on the edge of her shield, driving it downwards with a backstep until it bit into the earth. Quickly bringing her leading foot upwards to alight upon the shaft, she slid into a forward lean as her boot rode up the pike, bringing her head out of the path of two incoming strikes while she herself slashed out for the Matriarch's chest.
The cut drew a thin line of blood acrost the massive female gnoll, but her fur was thick and she was better armoured than her lessers. It was barely a scratch. With incredible power the Matriarch uprooted her pike from the earth, flinging it upwards with Estelle still perched atop. The {Crusader} adopted the momentum as her own, coursing through the motion in a flip as she sheared down two more gnolls with a mid-air activation of [Aura Blade], landing neatly behind their lifeless bodies.
From the rear, the singular remaining archer and its javelin wielding counterpart sent projectiles into the fight. Assessing the threat quickly, Estelle used her shield to protect against the polearm at the cost of allowing the arrow to strike her upper shoulder, as the gnolls crowding her at melee range made dodging a non-option. The Matriarch in particular possessed an immense reach, and would not waste an opportunity to skewer her if she moved without care.
The gnoll mother howled again, and a tangible force spread over her and the pack. Their muscles bulged and eyes took on a reddish glow as they harried Estelle with a coordinated flow of thrusts and cuts from their polearm weapons. Her injury burned and blood flowed fresh with each drive of her weapon, but still she parried with articulate ease as her footwork danced seamlessly between striking ranges. It was not until the ranged combatants raised their weapons again that Estelle was forced to make a play.
Channeling the aptly named [Burst of Speed] atop her existing buffs, she sent her shield hurtling into the distance with a vertical spin, crushing the javeliner's skull like a ripe melon. In almost the same motion, she used her newly freed hand to lunge forward and grab one of her melee opponents poleaxe, bringing her blade down to sever the haft beneath her point of grip. Wincing as she barely knocked aside an attack from the Matriarch, she withdrew on light steps before throwing the severed poleaxe as though it were a tomahawk, splitting the archer's bow and embedding the blade deep into the gnoll's chest.
The partially disarmed gnoll threw the remaining stick it held at the {Crusader}, picking up another poleaxe from the armaments of its fallen comrades. It threw that one too, realizing in the moment that there was no shortage of newly ownerless equipment littering the ground. Estelle grimaced, actually pressured back as she regretted introducing the idea of throwing non-standard objects into the fight. The Matriarch continued issuing commands, directing her two remaining pawns to spread out and encircle their opponent, effectively triangulating Estelle's position.
It was a disadvantage she was not willing to entertain, almost immediately sweeping in a low feint to use [Aura Blade] to cut the legs of one gnoll short at the knees, rushing the other lesser packmate as its companion fell. With hurried footwork she maneuvered around the creature, holding its poleaxe in a bind while circling to put it between the Matriarch and herself– a tactic which might have worked had she not forgotten a hard truth. The gnoll mother cared not for her pawns.
Her massive pike skewered the lesser gnoll like a needle through a staw doll, driving clean through and catching Estelle in the stomach. The {Crusader} let out a gasp of pain as she was forced back and pinned against a tree, her vision white hot with stars. Instinctively she protected her face with her shield arm, as even after being sacrificed the impaled gnoll battered her with strikes, its claws drawing blood as it roared its dying breaths through a foaming mouth. The Matriarch wasted no time gloating, leaving the pike embedded as she reared back to strike with powerful claws, the glow of an enhancement art consuming her.
Estelle barely managed to duck as the attack sheared the tree apart where her head had been moments before, tearing the lesser gnoll to shreds. The sounds of breaking wood and snapping brush filled the forest as the tree fell behind them, covering the sounds of her pained cries as she braced against the pike with her open hand, supporting her weight on that arm as she lifted both legs from the ground to kick outwards. The unexpected blow did little by way of damage, but successfully forced the Matriarch back enough so that the {Crusader} could bring her weapon down upon the polearm protruding from her belly. She hacked at it without the grace of her usual strikes, desperately severing the last portions of flesh holding the tattered remains of the lesser gnoll upon the pike and cutting chunks from the heavy wood until forced to stop by a falchion thrown at her face.
Following the previous battle queues, the Matriarch had retrieved the weapon from her fallen lessers and sent it flying at Estelle. The {Crusader} jerked her head to the side at the last moment, gritting her teeth as the blade split her cheek with a splash of gore. Without hesitation she threw her own weapon back at the towering gnoll, scoring a deep cut on the creature’s forearm as it knocked the sword aside. Clenching her gauntleted fist, she slammed down upon the weakened portion of the pike and split it, activating [Greater Regeneration] as she pushed off with her legs and slid herself free from the haft.
Before she had fully hit the ground the gnoll mother was upon her with another heavy blow, which this time connected at full force and sent Estelle’s slight frame flying acrost the battlefield. She slammed into yet another tree and fell to the earth, curling inwards as she coughed up a wave of blood, the last of [Celestial Grace] fading away from the damage. [Greater Regeneration] was keeping her alive, but barely. She struggled to brace a hand beneath herself in order to rise, never stopping, every action a deliberate bid for survival.
The Matriarch had retrieved the poleaxe from her legless subordinate, ruthlessly crushing him underfoot when he reached out for her as she approached. Stalking over towards Estelle, the creature raised the weapon high and swung downwards for a killing blow.
A wave of golden light deflected the strike, as Estelle forced the command for [Sanctum] out through bloodstained lips. The higher tier variant of [Sanctuary] held firm against the attack, even as the enraged gnoll mother began hacking and slashing against it with unbridled rage. It would not hold indefinitely against the onslaught, but it bought the {Crusader} precious seconds for her regeneration to do its work.
She lay still, pressing her face against the ground in silent agony as the light of her protective art began to wane, flickering beneath the force of each strike it absorbed. Her forehead touched the cool, hard surface of a rock, and she lay against it for a long moment as though taking comfort from the stone.
The gnoll mother had stepped back slightly, pacing hungrily back and forth as it watched the fading [Sanctum] with angry eyes. No longer expending energy to thrash against the barrier, she waited like a hound that had cornered a street cat in an alley. Estelle slowly pushed herself to a sitting position, meeting her enemy's gaze. The Matriarch snarled at her. Closing her eyes again, she assessed her arts fatigue, deciding it would be enough… It would have to be.
The barrier faded from existence and faster than the average mortal could react, the Matriarch made her strike.
But she had not been ready to connect with another [Sanctum]. Estelle’s recast of the art shone suddenly to life, unbalancing the Matriarch as her full force attack jarred against the golden light. It was all the opening the {Crusader} required, forcibly dispelling the effect immediately after as from her sitting position she swung her arm in a powerful throw.
The Matriarch's head exploded as a fist-sized stone imbued with [Greater Blessed Weapon] punched through her skull like a shot from a cannon.