Kal was getting a bit overwhelmed at the unending assault on his senses by the sounds and smells emanating from every corner of this vast forest, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. As a child, he had dreamed of places where he imagined the Spirit Kings would reside, but this exceeded even his most vivid imaginations. He could see flora of almost every color under the sun within the scope of his vision.

He could detect the scent of over a hundred different species of animals mixed in with the combined smell of exotic flowers, plants and even the wood and wet earth.

He could hear the gushing of water from small rivulets a mile away, the squeaking of small critters as they scurried about in the dark of the night, the beating heart of several predators who stalked them, and if he concentrated hard enough he could even hear the movement of insects below the earth he stood upon.

He was forced to limit his hearing capabilities to a small area of about several meters as the all that sounds bombarding his senses got too much to bear. He decided to hone his senses at a later date to remedy this weakness.

He noticed that the earth beneath his feat was moist, cool, soft to touch and brimming with life, so unlike the barren desert. He heard the rustling of leaves as a cool breeze blew past them, the temperature almost perfectly hospitable to allow Kal a pleasant sensation as it brushed past his skin, the direct opposite of the harsh winds of the desert.

Even while his mind was occupied by the exotic wonders around him, he did not forget about the exotic being walking in front of him, with skin as pale as ivory. He had not paid much attention to these humans in his state of hunger but now that he was noticing her closely, they looked nothing like the humans he had known. How long had he been locked way in there? Was he even on the same plane of existence? He wondered.

When he had woken he wanted to devour anything and everything in sight, but the surprising amount of nourishment provided by the blood of those three men was beyond any human blood he ever consumed. Now that he had tasted that blood, the blood from the old man which he remembered as pure human tasted like water in comparison. When he finally got to the woman his instincts had screamed at him to devour her, and he wanted to, she had smelled so irresistibly good.

Then he looked into her eyes, and they reminded him of someone he knew intimately, and he recalled the intense emotions of love and devotion he had felt coming from the young man for the woman in front of her before he was consumed. Such strong emotions made him a bit envious of the human boy and he had to know if the girl reciprocated these feelings.

Lucky for her, in the process of their conversation the blood frenzy clouding his mind slowly rescinded and he was able to think more objectively. He had decided she would be more useful alive than dead. Maybe she could lead him to the one he wanted. The one person he truly cared for.

Yazarin!

This girl had eyes so much like hers, a bit less deep shade of green. Now that he could concentrate, she even smelled a bit like Yazarin, while still maintaining her unique scent. He was sure there had to be some connection between the two.

After the girl had told him her story concerning the need for revenge and justice for her mentor, he appreciated her thirst for more power to which he could relate. In the world he had known there was no true justice but the one you created for yourself through your own strength.

He had decided that helping this little girl might be amusing enough and he could use some company after the eternity in solitude, and he also thought it might help in shaving off some of the rust accrued in his muscles.

After a half an hour of walking, they reached what looked to him like a large clearing. Moving deeper in he saw several corpses of what looked to be large wolves spread around a still smoking pile of burnt wood. He knew they were there long before he got any visual confirmation as he was able to smell their blood from almost half a mile away.

On one side of the clearing he saw a large wooden structure and from the small pieces of wood spread all around he guessed that the thing had seen better days.

“What are those things?” Kal asked pointing at the dead wolves.

“Those are the werewolves that attacked us on our way towards you. My companions managed to kill a few and we barely managed to escape from the rest,” she explained. Her eyes drooped in mourning, as she recalled the events of the last hour.

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“Werewolves?” Kal asked curiously.

“That's what we call them. No one knows what they truly are truth be told. Most humans believe them to be a curse placed upon us by their God for all our sins. Laughably absurd,” Liara said, chuckling at the end.

“Hmm…” Kal mumbled as he looked pointedly at the corpses.

“I’ll get you something to wear,” she said before hurrying herself towards the wooden machination.

In the meantime Kal inspected the corpses, sampling some of the blood from the creatures that had yet to be absorbed by the earth. He thought it was much better than a human’s, even in its cold and decaying state, but it could never compare to the blood of those three men from earlier.

A moment after rummaging through the crumbling wooden structure she approached Kal, carrying a bundle of what he could guess were clothes made from a soft unknown fabric. He had seen the old man wearing something similar.

“Here! You can use these,” she said holding out the bundle for Kal. Her face appeared more red than usual and her eyes were looking everywhere but at Kal. He found that behavior extremely odd, to say the least, but he easily understood what she wanted him to do. Clearly, the men of this age were expected to wear these clothes so he didn’t question her and just took the bundle.

After ridding herself of the burden she quickly turned around and bolted back towards the wooden creation, leaving him to figure out the correct way of putting these on. He had expected some instructions from the girl but did not want to appear weak by asking her directly. He would have to figure it out on his own.

It took a while and he had to rearrange and readjust some portions but he finally managed to put them on in the way he remembered the old man sporting them. He wore a grey shirt and brown pants fastened by a brown leather belt and donned a dark blue cloak over them. He thought these clothes were a bit tight than what he remembered wearing but he still found them quite comforting.

“I am sorry for the lack of boots, I swear I'll get you some good ones as soon as we visit a town,” Liara said folding her hands in a sincere gesture of apology. She had returned after taking her time gathering her things from the wagon.

“Boots?” Kal asked with a confused expression on his face, clearly not knowing what she was talking about.

Liara raised an eyebrow at that question, clearly wondering if he was serious but then she remembered she was probably talking to an amnesiac and resigned herself to answer. She slightly parted the right side of her cloak to reveal her right foot and the riding boots made of black leather she wore.

“Oh!” Kal swiftly exclaimed in acknowledgment as he remembered the men from earlier wearing something similar.

“Dawn is still a few hours away,” she said looking towards the mountains due east after correcting her cloak and Kal followed her gaze to look in the same direction.

She then turned around and pointed in the opposite direction before speaking, “The nearest town lies west far beyond those mountains.”

“If we run using our full strength we would make it to the foot of those mountain cliffs before dawn. There we can rest within one of several small caves lining the bottom of the cliff walls. My companions and I made a camp there several days earlier, so I know them to be safe. I’ll explain further once we are safe within one of those caves,” she said before turning to look directly at Kal ready to answer any questions he might pose, but Kal just gave a slight nod of acceptance and then they were both off towards their destination.

They reached their mark just in the nick of time, a small opening beneath a cliff facing a valley to the north, sandwiched between two massive mountains, the period of pre-dawn reaching its zenith. It was the only opening in sight for miles that allowed journey westwards surrounded by unscalable terrain.

This night long trek through the forest was beyond taxing on Liara’s small starving body, her skin looked paler than usual almost bloodless and she panted heavily as they entered the mouth of the cave.

“You need blood,” Kal stated a bit derisively after a brief examination of Liara’s pitiful condition. He appeared completely unfazed by the recent exertion as he stood leaning his back against the cave wall, arms folded with a look of contempt evident on his face.

“You should have drunk from the old man when you had the chance. I know you wanted to,” Kal said gleefully before he smirked at Liara, who looked at him with weary eyes, still recovering from the exhaustion. She slumped down with her back to the cave wall opposite Kal’s near the entrance and looked up at him. She took a deep breath before answering, “I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t further desecrate his corpse, I just respected him too much to do that.”

“So you chose to suffer weakness, for what? Some vague notion of honor? The human was already dead, and you honor the dead by following their example if they are worthy and respecting their accomplishments, not by preserving the dignity of their rotting ephemeral mortal coil,” Kal scolded now glaring at the sorry form of Liara in front of him.

He hated the people who deliberately put themselves at a disadvantage for arbitrary reasons. They reminded him of someone he hated with a passion of a thousand burning suns.

“I am sorry for being such a disappointment,” Liara apologized, her head low as her eyes were unable to confront Kal’s judging gaze. She regretted making him witness her moment of weakness but did not regret the decision she made regarding the professor and did not think this was the place or time to have a philosophical debate about the concept of honor.

She had expected to find some spare bottles of blood within the confines of the wagon to replenish her strength, but they are were all destroyed when she found them. It must have been the wolves she guessed responsible for the deed as she had seen several claw marks within. The only thing of use she was able to find within the wagon was a small pouch of gems and coin, left untouched.

Kal just clicked his tongue in disappointment and turned his head away from her direction to look towards the ever brightening expanse of the forest outside the cave.