The wolfren lunged at Kade, but his chains retracted, sending him lurching sideways at the last possible moment. The wolfren’s twisted approximation of a canine face seemed to twist in frustration, as its prey had been eluding it for nearly an hour now, and it let out a long, eerie howl. The sound was returned from several other directions in the dense, ancient forest, where the trees towered overhead like an enormous wooden city, the last rays of the setting sun barely penetrating the canopy. Kade heard the sounds of the rest of the pack’s pursuit, and found that the thrill of the hunt had finally won-out over the primal fear that had seemed to chase him though the woods as doggedly as the monster pack.

It was their final night before arriving in Karthas, with just the massive forest between them and Kade’s first view of the city that was meant to be his home. He’d been about to settle into his training routine when Edwin had beckoned him to the edge of their campsite, “This is wolfren territory. This far from the True Chaos, the beasts are as close to natural as you’re likely to find in this world; that means they’re largely ignored until they cause a problem, unlike manifestations of chaos which are problems,” he gestured at that treeline, disappearing into the sky and blocking the horizon. “This is your last chance to use those skills you’ve been honing while I’m still in a position to help you. I suggest you go for a hunt.”

That was the only prompt Kade had needed, as the woods had been a tempting prospect since they’d first come into view the day before. He’d been polishing his chain techniques, convinced the unusual mobility they offered would be key to his survival, and the prospect of being able to incorporate verticality was too tempting to resist. That there were actual stakes, and for once he’d be taking on monsters of his own level, only made this chance too good to waste. He’d charged into the old forest with barely a nod to Edwin.

The first hour of exploration was a mix of experimentation and acclimating to the enormity of the trees that surrounded him. Even before entering the woods, using his chains for mobility had already started to feel natural. The small group of Keepers had watched in disbelief and then tacit acceptance as he spent the last few days practicing, jumping into the air then propelling his chains into the ground, rocks, anything, only to rapidly pull himself forward. As the three warriors tried to focus on walking, Kade went soaring back and forth, first in a single direction at a time, then advancing to firing out more chains mid-lurch, suddenly pulling him in new directions, and no doubt looking absurd.

The result, however, was showing clearly as he began navigating through the woods more and more rapidly. No one would ever describe the act as graceful, but that was also its advantage, as the strange, jerky-movements meant he could completely arrest his own momentum at any time, suddenly moving in an entirely new direction or angle. He’d come up with a number of ways of making the movements even less predictable. The first was simple, as he’d realized his chains were strong enough that they could move him easily even at the smallest size he could force them into. This meant that his anchor chains as he thought of them, were smaller than his littlest finger, and being jet-black, were almost impossible to see without direct light.

His next advancement had come when he began using far more chains than necessary, trying to make sure there were always at least a half-dozen tiny spikes embedded all around him whenever he was fighting in one place. The result was that he could suddenly be yanked violently in almost any direction, meant to confuse and bewilder his opponents, as he was doing right now. He didn’t know exactly how many wolfren there were, but so far it hadn’t seemed to matter. The speed and unpredictability of his chains were simply too much for the beasts, who were only capable of leaping desperately after him.

Curiously, Kade thought, as two chains yanked him back and upward into the trees, leaving behind three wolfren which snapped at each other in frustration, the beasts hadn’t appeared to adapt at all to their unusual prey. Even as one hour turned into two, they still leaped and howled, snapped and whined. They never worked well together in the way he expected of wolves, and they made only the most minimal attempt to predict his movements. There was something to that, something he’d also seen in the beasts in the labyrinth, the Elder, and even the Keepers. He couldn’t completely articulate the thought yet, but it raised questions he would pester Edwin with sooner or later.

In the meantime, full darkness was setting in, and he knew he needed to deal with the creatures properly at last. He’d injured a few both intentionally and by accident with his chains, as they exploded outward from his waist at high speeds with the anchors being incredibly sharp, but the chains weren’t designed to kill. That had been a revelation he’d been forced to accept early, as the chains couldn’t even grow to the thickness of his wrist, and few creatures on Iros were bothered by anything so small. As two wolfren got lucky and collided with him in mid-air, he lamented that he missed the fragile rat-monsters that had been his only companions in the endless dungeon he’d awoken in.

Another of his techniques saved him, as the mass of chains flaring around his soaring body instantly tangled around the two snapping monsters, binding them for the heartbeat it took for gravity to halt their momentum, then releasing them to drop back to the forest floor. Still, it was a reminder that the time had come to put an end to this, and he at last drew his spear, ready to take the fight to the creatures.

He began by anchoring to the ground, slamming his body down toward the two wolfren that had just fallen, spear point aimed with deadly purpose. It was still difficult to stick the landing at such breakneck speed, but his enhanced bones easily absorbed the shock as the spear pierced through the chest of the first beast, which howled pitiably as he yanked the silver artifact out with a twist. Even as he fell he sent more chains anchoring around him, and no sooner was the spear free before he was hurtling toward the second fallen beast, ending it just as easily.

Edwin had assured him that these beasts were considered lesser, meaning they weren’t even ranked, essentially just deadly animals. That could still mean a lot on Iros, as he’d been warned that even natural creatures were often capable of a plethora of unusual abilities, but lesser wolfren thankfully didn’t make that list. Just big claws, and bigger jaws. More importantly at the moment, it meant they could actually be killed by piercing their flesh, which hadn’t yet been replaced by the stoney, adaptable substance of their greater kin.

Kade was grateful for this, as the spear point wasn’t much larger than his chains, and would have been ill-suited to the slowly-hack-to-death method of combat that seemed most effective on beings like the rat Matriarch he’d faced. Turning his mind back to the fight, he could only see three of the beasts still pursuing him, and he found himself bursting with energy at the thought of finally turning the pursuit onto them. Without pausing from his second kill, he lurched back into action, spear spinning in a wild and joyous display that Edwin would never have approved of.

***

The next day saw the small group making slow, consistent progress through the woods, now cleared of wolfren. Kade was in an excellent mood, as not only was he finally going to reach Karthas today, but his bracer had presented him with some very welcome news after he’d defeated the final creature.

Status Update!

Mana reserves +4!

New total: 31/31

Speed Stat +1!

New total: 02

It had confirmed something Edwin had mentioned, that his abilities and stats would slowly grow as he strained them. The older man had been surprised when Kade described the details his bracer went into, as the standard models were far less precise. Kade was appreciative of the advanced interface, however, as he felt a surge of satisfaction watching his abilities grow before his eyes. He was struggling to contain his excitement around the subdued group, torn between trying to respect their collective grief, and the addictive nature of his growing power.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

As the group finally emerged from the dense forest into the afternoon brightness, Kade was beginning to believe he was ready for whatever awaited him in Karthas. That thought was absolutely crushed as a mountain range came into view, stretching into the distance in both directions. Directly in front of them, but still many hours away, was Karthas. Not just the city, but the Elder. Kade faltered in his steps and had to grab onto Graves’ arm to steady himself as he took in the sight.

The tallest mountain wasn’t just a mountain, but was actually formed from the Elder himself, who was using the mountain range like a throne. Though his body appeared half-absorbed into it, making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. Clouds had to part before Kade could even clearly make out the face of Karthas, and that was what had truly shocked him. The staggering size was overwhelming and filled him with a sense of awe and smallness that eclipsed anything the previous Elders might have evoked, but that couldn’t compare to the sense of dread that now assailed him.

The face, like every other part of the massive being was swallowed by stone, but where the rest of him could almost be mistaken for an enormous statue of Eleonora–as it shared her four-armed, two legged form–no one could mistake the face for anything but a living being. It was the eyes. Where Altera had appeared peacefully sleeping, and the monstrous, unnamed Elder had been too alien to even appear intelligent, Karthas was clearly very-much alive, and his eyes stared forward with focused, dark purpose. The eyes were also untouched by the stone that almost appeared to be devouring the Elder slowly, instead, even from this vast distance, Kade realized he was expecting to see them blink.

Graves delicately removed Kade’s hand, seeming to understand the reaction, “Allow me to introduce my Legend, the indomitable Karthas. He who withstood the Calm. I am proud to count myself as one of his devotees, as he benevolently gives shelter to all within his shade. He welcomes you too, Kade, for you are now ever under his gaze.”

***

Kade had hoped to become used to the sight as they slowly plodded toward the living behemoth that was Karthas, but the unnerving stare of those eyes never seemed to leave him, and he felt small in a way he couldn’t process. Even the sun that was Korthos couldn’t instill this kind of wonder and terror, as it was simply too big and too distant to process. Karthas, on the other hand, was all too real, and had finally hammered home exactly how tremendous the scale of this world truly was.

When he tried to express this feeling to Graves, the man seemed disappointed, “I understand the visceral reaction to the staggering size of Karthas, but you need to learn that scale is not what makes a Child of Iros significant. If you were able to tunnel deeply enough into this world, you’d eventually find Elders who are to Karthas what he is to you, in terms of sheer mass. But they would be as nothing to his power.” Kade recognized the touch of religious zeal that colored the man’s words, and recognized it wasn’t the time to express his excitement at the possibility of yet larger beings.

Graves continued his sermon, “Karthas is the greatest of the surviving second generation. His is a power unrivaled since the coming of the Calm, and he stands as a living beacon to the potential of our race. We may be Children of Korthos, but his is a Legend so far beyond our understanding that he is more a force of nature. Karthas is very real, and most of us who take succor in his great presence will feel the steady hum of his power for the entirety of our lives.”

Kade couldn’t grasp everything he was being told, so he tried to pivot to the more practical questions that gnawed at him, “So who rules in Karthas then? Wait–is he in charge, does he talk?” Alara snorted at this, the first sound he’d heard from her beyond plodding footsteps in days.

“The priests like to claim he does, but Legends don’t speak to lessers, and to them everyone is lesser. There is a King of Karthas, and trust me when I say that to him, Karthas is just an overgrown chair for him to perch on.” Graves looked enraged at this interruption, more emotion than Kade had yet seen from the man, and Edwin quickly stepped in.

“The priesthood and the citizenry are all technically separate. The Order of Karthas exists to…manage the great Elder, most importantly conducting the rites and rituals that allow us to take his Trials. They have great influence because of this, but at the end of the day, King Theros is the leader of the people, and it’s his rule that we must follow.” Graves didn’t look entirely mollified, but kept his silence.

Kade saw a chance to move past the awkwardness and continued his questioning, “Where exactly do the Keepers and Bringers fit in?” Surprisingly it was Alara who answered, and Kade noticed some satisfaction on Edwin’s face.

“Those are two separate orders, and the Bringers are so secretive that you’ll likely never know if they’ve chosen to exert their considerable influence. The Keepers on the other hand, are the champions of the people, and have a powerful impact on the daily lives of all, whether King Theros wants them to or not.” She seemed almost as surprised as Kade to find herself speaking, but appeared to embrace it after a moment’s hesitation.

“You’ll need to become familiar with the Keepers and our duty in a way that is much deeper than what we’ve been capable of imparting until now. I suggest you look at the citizenry to truly understand our role, as it’s our responsibility to them that truly defines us. Regardless, it will be enough for you to focus on simply learning how normal life works for now, as you’ll have some time in the city before Edwin can arrange for you to take your Trial.”

Kade nodded with excitement, “I’d love a chance to actually be around some people for a time–not that you aren’t people, exactly, but…well I guess I could just use some normal after everything I’ve seen so far. I get the impression this Trial will be anything but normal.” Alara gave him a flat look, but finally nodded.

“You’ll get that, more or less. You’ll be given a room in my estate, but I’ll leave your daily care in your own hands. Explore, talk, learn,” she looked him up and down, still wearing nothing but faded, torn pants and a skirt of chains. “...bathe and get some new clothes. Please.”

“It’s not my fault you all just wander around in battle armor everywhere with no spares, if I didn’t have magic feet I’d be riding on your back right now,” he gestured angrily at his bare feet, which thankfully were durable enough to walk comfortably on any surface since his transformation.

Edwin let a small smile slip through at the good-natured teasing, “We told you, anything that isn’t enchanted to survive in the Chaos would look as bad as your pants do. Graves and I aren’t wealthy enough to carry around a magic wardrobe.” He shrugged as he continued walking, but Kade caught the hint.

“Wait, you only said you and Graves, what about her?” he pointed accusingly at Alara, as it registered she’d used the word ‘estate’.

“I wasn’t going to let you wear one of my dresses; I’m still not convinced we should have taken you out of that labyrinth. But please, keep complaining, I’d love an excuse not to have to let a reeking stray into my lovely home,” he could hear some playfulness to her tone, but still decided not to push his luck.

“So aside from just getting a feel for the place, is there anything else I should be doing?” It was Edwin who picked up the conversation.

“You’ll need to join the Academy as soon as possible. I’m sure I can convince them your education can wait until after your Trial, but there’s still too much you need to know to just let you go back into the Chaos. They’ll run you through some basics, and give you a proper initiation into the Keepers once you’ve earned your place.”

“How long does all of that take?” Kade asked.

“Normally a very, very long time. You’d have been enrolled as soon as you took your first Bond, and would have continued your training until long after your first Trial. Under the circumstances, I suspect I can have you out of there in less than a year, but it’ll largely depend on how quickly you manage to progress–and that’s by their standards, not yours.”

Kade let his disappointment show, “I’m going to go to school for a year? I can’t even wrap my head around that much time right now, my whole life has fallen apart and been rebuilt in a week.” Edwin smirked.

“We didn’t say school, we said Academy. There will be time spent learning in classes, but at your stage of development most of your time will be spent training to work with other keepers. You’ll be expected to find allies and help each other grow, and you’ll frequently be taken outside of Karthas to do that. Don’t expect to fight any Elders for a while, but they’ll more than keep you busy.”

Graves at last spoke once more, “You should be focusing on the coming Trial. Do not let the nonchalance of these two lull you into a false sense of ease; Lord Karthas does not hold back in his testing. Everything else that matters will only come to you if you satisfy the Great One, so keep your mind sharp and don’t let distractions in. The Trial of Karthas will be unlike anything you’ve faced before.”