After Aldryn nearly collapsed on one of the empty beds, he begun coughing and breathing heavily.

'Reminds me of when I was a kid and run until my legs gave out' he tried to smile at the thought, but couldn't stop coughing long enough for that.

"You do look like the type" the fox panted, also tired.

“What’s wrong with him?” Ranya asked from the bed.

“He is just exhausted. Aldryn was never all that good with magic”, Zevram explained.

With a sigh, Ranya stretched back on the small bed. Her leg was tightly bandaged, the bone being shattered. Her brother was out and around. He was rather fine, only some bruises and cuts that were already taken care of.

The next morning, Aldryn woke up with a headache. At first, the blonde could not understand what happened. But then, events from the previous day came rushing back. The blonde used up all his magic, which explained the headache and pain in his body.

'I really shouldn't use magic so often' he massaged his temple.

"With your magic... I would suggest not using it at all" the fox grumbled back, still tired and sleepy.

“Are you all right?” he heard a gentle voice ask and turned to see Ranya.

“What happened to you?” Aldryn asked and looked around, hesitating to ask more.

“I broke my leg”, she said, glaring at the bandaged appendage.

“I will gather the others” another voice suddenly said.

This time it was Midryl who spoke. He approached the two and declared that there were many who were willing to pursuit their attackers. It was only then that Aldryn noticed that someone was missing.

“If the whole village wasn’t tired after the festival those bastards would never manage to cause such damage. Or even dare to show their faces” his sister only ranted.

“Where is Klyran?” the blonde suddenly said and looked at the two siblings.

After the question, the two siblings re-told Aldryn the events from the previous days. Everything was peaceful in the morning. They were just about to finish their festival, which Aldryn only now remembered.

The festival of Life and Death was an old tradition of the Greenyards. It took place every year for one whole night, from sunset to sunrise. It included two individuals dressed in special clothes and masks. They were supposed to dance around each other, but never interact. Then, the “Death” would summon a few of its followers, around 10 other Greenyards dressed in black coats and random masks. They were supposed to cause mischief or anything to get a reaction from other villagers. And those who reacted, would be considered to have heard and followed the call of the Dead and would join them. While the Greenyard that represented "Life" would try and chase away the troublemakers to protect the "living".

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It was a game that lasted the whole night and in the morning, at sunrise, Zevram would count each team. If the number of “Dead” Greenyards exceeded that of the “Living” ones, then they were supposed to show utmost respect toward all living creatures, or else according to the legends, their village would suffer many deaths that year. To express it, their village would not hunt animals until the next festival.

According to the siblings, just when Zevram was counting the numbers, someone attacked their village. It was a group of five people. After the attack, they ran back into the forest. Angered and tired, a few Greenyards rushed to follow them. To catch and question the intruders. But their warriors who went out into the woods have all ran back to the village to warn them of the many intruders that they encountered further in the forest. They were injured and one of them died during the attack, so the survivors were placed in Zevram’s house, which had many layers of protective spells on them.

Then, the whole village prepared to face the attackers. Even Klyran wanted to help, being confident in his new skills and training. And once they arrived, the fight begun. The Scavengers were adept in both hand and weapon combat. Apparently, they could nullify magic, something Aldryn previously heard from Bai. It was an inconvenience, since the Greenyards often used wind magic. But it did not push them back, rather, the two groups were nearly on equal footing. The great number of warriors that lived in the small village giving them an advantage. Some were injured, but they were quickly taken off the battle field by others and hidden in Zevram’s house. It allowed them to reduce the number of death to mere eight, compared to the dozens that died in Bai’s mansion.

Suddenly, an explosion rang out in the settlement, startling everyone. Luckily, no Greenyard was nearby. It was obviously that the Scavengers thought that the fight was dragging out too long and decided to divert their attention.

The smoke and the newly destroyed buildings stunned the people of the forest a bit. When they were back to their wits, the Scavengers were gone. The Greenyards have also quickly started assessing the situation. Some started helping the injured trapped under the trees or collapsed buildings. Others gave chase to their intruders.

“It’s doesn’t sound too bad”, Aldryn finally commented after hearing the story.

“The thing is…” Ranya begun, but then could not speak anything else.

“Klyran is missing” Midryl finished for her.

It caused the blonde to snap his head around the room. True to their words, the Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh no..” Aldryn said in a whisper, dread setting in the pit of his stomach.

“We think that they were after him from the start”, Ranya said quietly.

“Good thing is…With the current situation, the Yakards will help the village, while the remaining warriors will give chase”, Midryl said and squeezed Aldryn’s shoulder.

In the short time that they spend together, the two siblings grew fond of the Ryan. Not only them, all those that could still fight wanted to go and save him.

“He is one of us now”, a woman dressed in the Greenyard’s warrior clothes declared.

“It would be too obvious”, Zevram sighed when he heard of their intentions.

“With so many people, they would spot us easily” Ranya agreed.

“We should just pick the best among us and chase them”, Midryl then said.

“Do you think you can win against them?” the blonde then asked looking at the people present.

At that question, silence fell. The Greenyards were confident in their skills, but without their magic and with few of them, they would easily be overpowered.

“So what is the plan then?” Zevram asked again.

“You guys stay here”, the blonde said uncertain, “I will go get help”

When the siblings wanted to ask who might help them, their father-figure cut in.

“You think he will help?” he asked the blonde.

“I will try” Aldryn said and quickly jumped to his feet running out, without saying good bye.

"Here we go again" the Thrae took a deep breath, wondering how its host didn't drop dead yet. The fox could still feel the strain on its spirit and didn't doubt that even after resting for a night its host was still exhausted.

The blonde ran through the village, never once stopping. He was thinking of every possible thing that he could do and say to get help. The Greenyards, while capable warriors, were no match for the Scavengers. The destruction of their village was proof of that. Even with numbers on their side, without the use of their wind magic, they were at a great disadvantage.

When Aldryn reached the edge of the village, to his surprise, someone was already waiting for him there. A white elk was looking at from from behind some trees. The elks were known for living in that forest. With no natural predators nearby, they prospered and lived safely. The only times that they did ended up hunted was when the Greenyards would go after them. But that was the natural order and everyone understood it. According to their customs, the Greenyards also pray for their victims and make sure that their death is painless. There were only three of them in the whole forest.

The one facing Aldryn looked rather young. He remembered the two other white elks that lived in the forest, but they were much older. He could that this one was someone he never met before. His antlers were different, not fully grown yet. The white elks were extremely rare and in the magical forest they had a special meaning. They were leaders of the herds that lived there. Supposedly, those elk were born near the Wolrd Tree, the place most abundant in magic.

The young elk approached Aldryn and stomped its hooves on the ground. Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart, the blonde gently patted the beast.

“Could you help me?” he asked it and received a nod in reply.

"Thank you" both the blonde and the fox exhaled, happy to get some rest.

Without a second thought, Aldryn jumped on the elk and help tightly as it begun running into the forest.