Hadwin was unaware of the turmoil that unfolded around him. He felt his mind slip in and out of consciousness. Through the black fog that floated around his vision, he saw too much chaos to make sense of. The spider which had once been pressing its attack against the great stag was retreating. Its hind body smoking with the odour of sulphur as its legs violently kicked in all directions. Hadwin saw the axe he had thrown discharge a similar trail of smoke and speculated.

The stag too was acting strange and Hadwin thought at first both it and the spider were mimicking each other. The stag landed on its back, kicking its hooves haphazardly, displaying two white pearls instead of eyes. Foam dripped from the stag’s mouth, while black blood exploded from the spider's in correlation. Among it all, Hadwin saw the limp body of Saurus being lifted from the wreckage of broken wood.

“My—Lord,” Hadwin whispered, trying not to blackout. “Saurus...”

The woman that had whispered the words: “You killed my mother.”, was now lifting Saurus like a trophy. Hadwin noticed the gaping hole in his Lord Commanders chest. Saurus...was dead.

“No. Saurus I—”

The stag and spider continued their unsynchronised dance around the interior of the chamber, the spider continuing to cough up corrupted blood as the wound on its back continued to erode away carapace at an alarming rate.

“Sabrina!” The spider hissed through choking coughs, its pincers clashing anxiously.

Sabrina turned, only now noticing the current spider in distress. She tossed Saurus’ body to the wayside and Hadwin saw through dizzying eyes, a face displaying utmost contempt.

“Father.” Sabrina declared, watching the spider flail about. She avoided the pools of inky blood about the floor with flirty hops and lunges. Along the way, she retrieved the fallen axe that Hadwin had thrown, carefully admiring its edge. The spider jeered as Sabrina got closer. It tried to speak, but only blood ran from its mouth in rivers of liquid pitch.

“I belong to no one,” Sabrina said.

The spider hissed its disapproval and unfold wings that began to sing and hum. The spider thrummed its fly-like wings urgently as Sabrina lunged to strike. Her axe bit into the left-wing sending a wail of anguish to vertebrate around the room. Desperately it tried to take flight, but Sabrina was on him, burying her axe into the outer carapace that just recently, felt to Hadwin like armoured stone.

The spider kicked Sabrina with one of its legs, attempting to impale her like it did Lady Black, but the strike was orchestrated—easy to catch. Sabrina dodged nimbly to one side, then hooped her arm under the appendage given to her. She pulled, using a single leg as purchase against the creature's body. The spider let out a squealed hiss as something tore with the sound of ripping parchment.

Blackness…Then consciousness. Hadwin stirred; how long was he out? Sabrina was gone. The spider was gone. Hadwin lay alone in a chamber of blood, corpses, and broken wood.

“Saurus…Forgive me, my Lord.” He told the black abyss above when something moved to look down at him. It was the great stag that had burst into the room. It looked down at him with eyes as warm as a log fire in a winters month. It opened its mouth to speak only to discharge a cry. It pushed Hadwin urging him to move. Hadwin had nor the strength or the ability to stand so simply lay there as the beast rocked him gingerly. Then the stag let out another call that sounded to Hadwin like a cry of dismay.

Blackness again…

When Hadwin woke, he was rocking like a babe in the arms of their mother. The sound of hooves chimed pleasantly in his ears and when he mustered enough strength to open his eyes, he realised he was hung over the back of the stag.

“Where…what.” Were the noises he tried to produce with his swollen mouth.

A shadow next to him moved.

“You still alive my good friend?” The shadow asked. Hadwin thought he was dreaming or perhaps dead.

“Almost there,” the voice continued merrily. “just stay with us and we’ll get you patched up, good as new. I sorted that leg best I could, but you’ve lost some blood concho. Too much. Any lesser man would have moved on by now.”

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“Saurus?” Hadwin said knowing full well it wasn’t his Lord’s voice. There was a short pause.

“Ere’ we are.” The voice added.

Hadwin was lifted by several strong hands. His wounded leg felt completely numb, and his mind still toyed with the prospect of passing out again. Hadwin smelled the strong scent of incense as he entered some vague interior.

“Lady Maleeka.” The voice said. “This one needs your help.”

“Oh—yes. There are many and more that will be requiring my help right now I'd wager.”

"Oh aye, but 'ere's one of the heroes!"

A shadow suddenly eclipsed the entire tent.

“OUT! BEAST!” Maleeka said.

The stag that had entered growled defiantly giving Maleeka pause. It sounded to Hadwin like a screaming tantrum. He rolled to get a better look, only furthering his lapse into dizzying nausea.

“I know those eyes,” Maleeka whispered faintly to the stag. “More than a simple druid it seems.”

Hadwin, despite his delirium, could tell he was not the only one confused by the comment. Maleeka turned to look at him lying at her feet. Before three seconds had passed, she snapped her neck dismissively.

“I'm afraid not.” She declared. “He is far past my healing ability. He has lost too much blood, and the wound is poisoned. It already stinks of death.”

The stag let out a roar that shook the entire tent, causing the tapestry to billow as if caught in a strong wind.

“There is nothing within my power.” Maleeka insisted. “He is too far—”

Another roar. The stag approached, nodding its head threateningly. Maleeka sucked at her gums, her expression that of mild defeat.

“Very well.” She said, turning. From her necklace hidden beneath her overalls, she pulled free a familiar bean Hadwin had seen before. She rescued it from its thread and knelt.

“Don’t spit it out or choke on it.” She demanded pressing the small green bean into his mouth. Hadwin swallowed just in time to let the darkness consume him.

*

When Hadwin awoke for the final time that evening, he looked around at his surroundings with deep reverence. He absorbed the finer details around him, from the stitching in the cloth that made up the tent he was laying in, to the soft sheepskin cushions at his feet, even the old leather face woman that glared at him.

He lay there a while, letting his mind settle on particular memories, only to race off and replace them with a new one. He gazed down at his bare chest mattered with thick black hair and saw his leg in wrappings. He tried to wiggle his big toe and surrendered a smile when it winked back at him. He saw Alaric resting next to him, gently snoozing to the sound of birds singing outside. Hot daylight spilt in through the open tent flap and instead of incense, Hadwin smelled flowers, honey, and life.

“I’m afraid I had to cut away your leathers to tend to your external wounds.” Maleeka croaked through fleshy gums when Hadwin didn't address her. “But you may take the clothes I have laid out, the man they belonged to no longer needs them.”

Hadwin hoisted himself upwards, seeing the vibrant colours of the day wash over him. His head still felt light but rooted unlike before.

“Thank you” Were the words he found. Maleeka grunted, sucking her gums derisively.

“I would have saved the bean for someone more deserving. A child perhaps with the pox, but—” she trailed off, peering at the encroaching light outside.

“Your Lord beckoned me, and I complied.” She went on.

“Saurus?”

The woman nodded.

“He can command the spirits of earth and beast.” She spoke. “But also wear their skins, as easily as a man might wear a cloak.”

Hadwin recollected the event in the throne room, the spider retreating after making contact with his contaminated axe, the stag convulsing on the ground and Saurus’ body being raised.

“He died my Lady, I—I saw it happen,” Hadwin replied.

“Aye, he died but his spirit latched onto to the closest thing it could. Most of us seldom have the power to stay in this world when death grips us. Perhaps your friend still had business.” Maleeka looked down at Hadwin suspiciously. “Perhaps it was to save you?” Her sight shifted to Alaric.

Hadwin lifted his body which felt three times heavier than usual, he just about managed a walk

“Take it easy my Lord. Your body is mature and requires more time to heal, Nymph bean or no.”

Hadwin ignored her and limped from the canopy of the tent. Outside the white light cleansed him in its rays. Tents lay all around like they had before, but many were being unassembled before his eyes. He looked over at the city to hear the general ruckus of noise one would expect from a city. He smiled to himself as warmly as the sun that kissed his bare skin. The great stag trotted towards him.

“My Lord?” Hadwin said to the stag feeling rather strange at the question. The stag stopped its approach to flick its head downwards, then stroked the soft earth with a hoof. A flock of crows circled above like a shifting black ring before drifting downwards. Hadwin traced the winged beast as they perched, one by one, on the stag’s antlers.

“What happens now?” Hadwin asked. The stag let out a tempered roar causing the crows to scatter like flies being swatted, then the stag lowered its head towards the tent. Hadwin turned to see Alaric beginning to stir. When he looked back, he saw the stag cast its sights eastward.

“Eastward.” Hadwin acknowledged. “To the capital?”

The stag nodded its approval and approached Maleeka’s tent. Hadwin followed his friend, not for the first time, and lifted Alaric up on the stags back.

“Let’s get you home,” Hadwin said and was met in a chorus of agreement from both the stag and Maleeka.

The three of them set out eastward with the sun to guide them, and the people of Leeside rejoiced. But all was far from over.