A couple of days had passed with not much happening after the visit from Ferald and Anna. Both Ferald and Anna now knew the full truth about Jerals daughter but nevertheless they both kept quiet on the subject and accepted it for what it was. Ferald was much more aware of the later ramifications that all of this could cause but with some encouragement from his wife he also vowed to keep the secret, something he wanted to do but knew that he should not.
Jeral was finally starting to pull himself together from the loss of his wife and was able to act as a functioning person again with the help of his two close friends. It was too soon for real recovery to happen but he did not have the luxury of much free time. He had been called back to work today and he had resumed his day shift on the guard watch. Today was to be the day of Ves' funeral, as was tradition it would not begin until sundown. Earlier this morning he had left his daughter at Anna and Ferald's home before leaving to go to work. His daughter seemed perfectly fine with being parted from Jeral which had stung him a little bit but it also gave him hope that she would integrate fine with the rest of the village, even though deep down he knew what the future would have in store for his daughter.
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Anna stood in the doorway holding Jerals daughter in her arms along with some things Jeral had brought for his daughter, like a change of clothes and a bottle. Joan had recently began to walk and she had quickly taken to it, being able to stand on her own now she followed her mother back into the livingroom. On their way they passed many expensive things, it gave more of an image of a palace than a village manor. Intricate paintings, wooden and metal ornaments displayed on marble pedestals and detailed archways intersecting the rooms and hallways.
'This house is so luxurious, in my old life all of this stuff would cost more than a decades wages! This building alone would be out of the price range of everyone, bar the extremely well off. I can finally be at home with my fellow chandeliers now, I hope they don't bully me and instead accept me as their equal. All this moving around is a great change of pace from being with Jeral all day. Even though it has only been a few days I've quickly become bored with the life of an infant, I'm very glad I chose to learn magic, even though there are some downsides. My only highlight during these long days is using my magic until I run out of mana, I have no idea how much mana I currently have but my mana mastery skill has reached level 5 and it has started to become easier for me to feel my mana inside of my body. I think in a few days I might try experimenting, it could be dangerous though. An infant accidently conjuring fire could end up badly, on second thought, I think I might have to be cautious with that for now. Although finding some illusion magic would be a great help.'
The three of them spent the rest of the day going around the manor, Joan was really curious of her new little sister and Anna spent a lot of time doing general chores. Like anyone Anna never enjoyed doing chores but refused to get a maid because she was afriad that a maid might go on to become Ferald's mistress. Around halfway through the day Anna sat down with Joan and her newly acquired potato, she breastfed the both of them. This activity brought up some very confusing and underdevoloped emotions in the potato but she eventually resolved that she was indeed an infant girl now and may as well take the benifits, not like she had a choice.
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After dropping off his potato with Anna Jeral went straight to the guard barracks on the outskirts of the village. He carried a sword on his hip in its sheath and a buckler strapped to his back. He wore a mix of leather and cloth armour, with the leather armour protecting his vitals. The crest of the village was sewn onto his armour near his heart, it was the image of a bow firing at the sun.
The walk took ten minutes and Jeral was in no rush to arrive, after twenty minutes he was standing outside the front door of the barracks. "Jeral! You're back, we've been overworked since you left. I thought Demroy is going to have a heart attack if he had to pull another double shift." "Jeral, how are you feeling? I heard your kid's a girl, I'm so happy for you man!" As Jeral entered he was accosted by the voices of his work friends, all dancing with great agility around the elephant in the room. None of them wanted to be the first to mention it and they had all deemed it better for Jeral to bring the subject up himself when he was ready.
As he was bombarded by shoulders and faces Jeral put on his best acting face and assumed the form of the jovial working man. A smile on his face and wit in his mouth he began to one by one demolish all of his opponents. "Demroy on doubles? Hell I aint ever seen that fool do singles before, I can't imagine the sorry state he'd be in towards the end of that, I can just see him pulling swords on little old ladies and patting dragons on the head." Laughter erupted in the entrance hall as the chatter went on, Jeral was starting to get a warm feeling in his heart back and he greedily embraced it.
Eventually the talk settled down as everyone grouped up and went on their patrols, Jeral was told to go to the officer's station along with Yrel and Tal'hid. After arriving, a well dressed man greeted them and they held their fists to their chests in respect. This man was in charge of this village's branch of the guard, his name was Alexander Fisk. Alexander had bad blood with Jeral because of the fact that Jeral and Ferald were friends. Alexander had hated Ferald ever since Ferald had gotten the position of Mayor of the village when Alexander had always thought that he himself would have been far more suited for the position.
"At ease, I've asked you three to come here because you're our best scouts. Recently the forest monsters movements in this area have become far more agressive and forward, I want you to go and find out why. Our most up to date information says they appear to be fleeing the forest for an unknown reason, report back to me later today with your findings. Oh and try not to die, although if you come back with nothing I may just gut you myself. Dismissed soldiers."Yes sir" they said in unison before the three left the office. The moment they were out of sight of the guard captain they all took a sour facial expression. This was not the type of mission any of them wanted to do, it was dangerous, difficult and would take an entire day of hard work.
"Just our luck eh Yrel, Jeral's not a day back and the old man gives us a full day recon mission, I know he hates you Jeral but why does it always have to splash over on to us..." Tal'hid spoke while stretching his arms behind he leather helmet. "The forest always has me on edge, I hate it. Every step I take I freak out because I stepped on a branch and it snapped, this is giving me a headache." Yrel almost cried with her hands to her face. "I'm worried too, I don't know if I like going towards something that has dire bears running from it and it's not like I enjoy being the captains punching bag, there is nothing I can do about it though." The three of them kept on coming up with further reasons as to why their day was ruined as they walked around. After provisioning at the quatermaster the three left for the forest which was an hours walk away, it approached midday when they saw the treeline. They had not encountered much on the way to the forest as the area was very well secured and patrolled.
"Tal'hid, if you don't make it out of here alive, put in a good word for me will you." Yrel giggled at the agitated Tal'hid. "Hey why me! You have just as much of a chance to kick the bucket as I do!" Jeral saw the two bickering and tried to lighten the mood a bit with a joke, "Yeh, but I don't think Yrel's word would mean much in the afterlife." They laughed while suppressing the feeling of fear in their gut, the looming forest was not helping moral. Before they entered Jeral glanced at Yrel, "if you would do the honours."
Yrel focused and began chanting a spell she had cast often before, it was the dark magic spell *Shadows Embrace*. "Malae tenebrae Orci Sed ad nostram."
Shadows Embace [ACTIVE]
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The spell would last until either Yrel made it end by breaking the channel or until another magic dispelled it. This was an essential spell used in all scouting operations, it allowed the affected to pass into dangerous places without notice. Only a mage or a very strong monster could see through it, making it extremely valuable to have.
The three guards maintained a close formation so as not to lose each other in the forest, Tal'hid knew this forest well and would be able to guide to other two back to the exit at a moments notice. Birds were flocking and crashing through the leaves, small animals were howling and the ground itself had a light tremor in it, the forest wasn't normally this loud. There was obviously someone or something disturbing the balance of nature and it wasn't some adventurers hunting monsters.
"Whatever this is, the more I think about it the less I want to find out." Yrel was getting a bit shaky at the thoughts of what could possibly be causing this much chaos. "I suppose it must be powerful for it to be having this reaction, but as long as we keep distance from whatever it is I think we'll be fine in the shadows."
The forest floor was trampled, leaves and twigs turned to mulch. The three treaded on deeper into the forest, fear pleaded for them to flee however their reckless fervor for completing the job pushed them on. An hour into their scouting mission they started to slow in pace, a presence had fell on them and they knew it was close. "What could possibly be exuding so much power? I really don't know if it's a good idea to go into that next clearing." Yrel was at her wits end, every fiber of her body told her to run. "I know, but we can't leave now. All we have to do is see what it is then we can run back home. I am not going back empty handed, we'd be made a laughing stock." Tal'hid was playing the voice of reason but he knew exactly how the others felt because he felt it too.
The trio cautiously crawled towards the source of the overwhelming pressure, in the middle of a clearing slept a huge figuire. Its feathers of red and green turned to black at their tips, it had a razer sharp beak that was the length of Jerals arm and looked as sharp as enhanted mithril. Talons dug into the earth like it was sand and it's wings pulsated their impressive mass as it took each breath in its sleep.
"That's an elder griffon guys, I've only ever heard heresay about those things. I for one do not want to be around when it wakes up. We should head back and warn the guard." Jeral whispered to the other two, he was trying to be as quiet as possible. The other two nodded and turned to make their leave. The three guards all ran back to the treeline, taking only a third of the time it took them to get to the elder griffon. After leaving the area that it's aura stretched to they kept running at a reckless pace until they saw the edge of the forest once more. After leaving the forest they fell to their knees, gasping for breath, their faces were drowned in sweat and their hearts beated like drums in their bodies.
The walk back to the village was a blur, they were just now realising how close they came to death. If that creature had noticed their presence they would have had no hope of survival, that thought had haunted them all the way back. When they got back to the barracks their comrades were in disbelief, more so their officer. No one could fathom why such a powerful beast would be here, a normally rather peaceful village. The three were sent home early, they couldn't do any reliable work in the current state they were in.
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Jeral came to Ferald's home and was greeted by Anna. "Hello Jeral, you look a bit shaken up. Did something happen?" Anna saw his pale face and had thought something bad happend straight away. "Yes, very bad. I'll have to talk to Ferald about it too. How was my daughter? I hope she wasn't too much trouble for you." Anna gave a smile, "not at all! She was the sweetest little thing, always looking around and pointing at things. Her and Joan are sleeping happily together in Joans room. When I tried to seperate the two of them Joan started to cry, I couldn't bare it for long.."
"It's good to hear they are getting along, I hope they stay close. I'd feel relaxed if my daughter grew up with someone she could confide in, I never had that as a child but always wanted it." The two of them talked as they walked into the livingroom, there they met with Ferald.
Ferald was enjoying a drink as they entered and he quickly motioned for them to sit. "Ferald you're going to here this from the guard soon enough anyway but I thought I should tell you as soon as possible, when I was out on a scouting mission with Yrel and Tal'hid this morning we spotted an elder griffon sleeping. I don't think I've ever ran so fast in my life." Ferald spat out his drink, "an elder griffon?! Here! What would such a beast want with us, don't they normally live on the frontier mountains?!" Ferald didn't have an answer to give him. "Yes they do, normally, but this one is here. That thing is a big threat, it could easily take out the whole guard." Ferald was growing uneasy at the thought. "I'll have to put in a high tier request at the adventurers guild in Barrok quickly, just thinking of such a beast roaming freely around here gives me chills."
Anna asked Jeral questions about what the monster was and he described what he saw to her, making it out to be much worse than it was. "Ves' funeral will be tonight, I've already arranged everything. I hope you two will be coming." "That goes without saying Jeral, Ves was a great friend, the best I ever had. If the griffon came now I'd still find a way to make it to see her and say goodbye." Anna was trying to be strong while holding the floodgates back, Ferald comforted her and nodded to Jeral, assuring him that they would be there. "I'll be bringing my daughter, she deserves to be there." "We'll bring Joan too, I don't think she would like all of us leaving her with a stranger while we went off." The three nodded and Jeral parted from them, going to Joans room and retrieving his sleeping daughter.
Joan and her were nestled together, it seems Joan doesn't care about how his daughter looks. The two of them layed together and Joan had her arms around her little sister, her little sisters head curled up in Joans chest. After going through the subtle and careful motions required to seperate the two without waking them he wrapped his daughter up and headed to the plains outside the village.
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On the grass was a funeral pyre, a body wrapped in fine cloth was laying on its summit. All that could be seen around was grassland, mostly farms and farm animals. A few couple of hours of silence passed as everyone gathered together.
The barns in the distance and the village behind were bathed in the last light of the day as the sun fell low in the sky, it flickered on the horizon. The world was painted orange for a short while before the darkness took hold. In total sixty-seven people had arrived, all friends of Ves. Ves was loved by many, a face that was at the center of the village. Jeral handed his daughter to Ferald as he himself was given a lit torch. As was tradition the closest to the departed lit the pyre. Sobbing could be heard across the plains as a new light was born. Jeral stayed close to the pyre until the moment the fire enveloped his wife.
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'Goodbye mom, sorry I never got to know you.' The fire kept burning in the distance. 'This is real isn't it? That really is my mom up there. That was my fault? If I had not chosen to come to this world she would be alive.' The fire waved and danced in the infants eyes. 'I don't think I was ready for this world, was I? Up until a few moments ago I was treating this like a game... I had treated my last life like it was a game.'
The fire calmed in her eyes as she forged her new will. 'This time I'll truly live, my mom died so I could be here, I will become strong for you mom. I will not make the same mistakes I made in my last life. I will become strong, I will help others. I will live.'