Richard was living the good life.

Roast bunniwhatever with fresh seasonings, slow cooked over embers made of sweet wood… that he couldn’t remember the name of right now, but it made good bows? Anyway, SALT. Seasonings were nice, but adding salt to his roast… and his vegetables… and his potatoes… damn, he had missed salt.

Heaven.

He took two whole days off after dragging his prize back home to process and grind the salt up just to enjoy different meals.

Rarely over the years had he taken any real time off, but just luxuriating in salt called for it. Victory had become a complicated concept to Richard, but there had been only a handful of times when he could remember celebrating during his long vigil.

The first time he cleared the area of monsters, the first time he created well tanned and comfortable clothing, his first cycle without taking an injury, finding different foods and herbs for his garden, and when he had figured out and fixed the first runes.

Victories were rare, and far between. The emotional high of finally achieving another long-term goal couldn’t be over-appreciated.

Richard was living large.

He even dug out a pit and took trips with large leather waterskins to fill from the river, dumped the water and some salt in, heated it up, and had a salt bath.

Did it do anything that he could tell?

No.

Did he stay in there for four hours anyway?

Hells yes.

Then he pondered the important things:

The only possible way his meals could be improved would be with bread.

Despite his many many years of searching for a grain substitute, he had come up empty. There were wild onions that he had eventually made into somewhat less-wild onions, carrots, potatoes, a few roots he didn’t have names for, a plethora of wild herbs, and the only true gem in the past… however long: honey.

He hadn’t been able to make bread, though.

He could barely recall at this point how it felt to eat bread. He remembered hard tack, because it was easy enough to just grab a rock and try to chew on it; but real bread.. It had some kind of crunch like carrots, but… softer...ish? and it had a spongy taste like potatoes, but… lighter and maybe sweeter? He couldn’t remember, but his stomach still wanted it.

Regardless, he now had salt, which was not only an active ingredient of bread, but it opened up loads of other flavors. Salted meat! He didn’t even really need to salt it, he could just hunt it fresh, but he made it anyway just to remember a little bit of what life used to be like.

Sometime during the third day, Richard realized he was sitting in his now quite cold salt bath, eating salted pork substitute, and crying about bread. He was unsure how long he had been in this state at first, but now realized it was time to bring his mind back to reality.

Frankly, after cleaning up and getting warm again, he considered it might not be a bad thing to go back to the bath and lose it for a bit longer, but it was too late. He already had come back from the bottom. The garden needs tending and the monsters need murdering.

After a little work cleaning up the garden and watering a few things he got his gear ready. Sighing, Richard pulled his gambeson and mail on, plopped on his helmet (just in case) and started trudging to the ward barrier.

As he left the field, he sent out a normal long-range scan, and found, to his confusion, that there were no new monsters coming from the southwest. The area near him had been filled in due to the vacuum created during his initial rampage, but there was a notable gap.

Almost every cycle he would murder a bunch of monsters and the others nearby would sense the lack of monsters in the area and move to fill the void.

He saw no new monsters coming from the south and was confused.

Maybe.. Could it be? No. No, don’t get your hopes up again.

Time to investigate.

Wait. Wait, he couldn’t do that. It was too much of a break out of his normal routine. He needed to clear the whole area first, then he could go off on tangents and dreams. The area to the west was still pretty cleared out, so he began to wander north at first. This wasn’t like his first day where he used shock, awe, and superior firepower. It was time to clear out monsters more stealthily so the monsters further out would move in faster over time.

“Alright. Enough confusing me, let's do my thing.”

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Saravren was about to lose her cool, promising that she had seen a powerful creature only for it to disappear by the time she brought others to witness. She had reported her observations, and the rangers under Ethren had immediately deployed to observe - but there was nothing here.

She had almost been ridiculed for her tenacity and that it was true they couldn’t find the perpetrator, until the rangers had found the battlefield.

It was a swath of forest, completely devastated by some arcane force. There were still corpses of Twisted stacked like cordwood, yet none were fully intact. It was a scene reminiscent of the great monster migrations that were fought off near towns or cities to the south so many years ago. Only Ethren was old enough to remember what that looked like. They had been moving for so long, and most of their more experienced rangers were no more.

The devastation was clear, and there was no city here, no large group, just a field of death that confirmed Saravren’s reports.

The ranger scouts and initiates had kept a constant watch on the area while the rest of the tribe dug in. It had been three days since she had reported back about the battle, and there hadn’t been much activity. They had been clearing the area and making sure at least one person was always near the battlefield to keep watch. Most couldn’t feel the Field well enough to notice things easily like Ethren and to a smaller extent Saravren.

Saravren was feeling tired and hungry. It had been a long several days and she was daydreaming a little about her nice warm tent and a bath. She was hoping that Ethren would call it time to go back to camp when...

The God(?) had finally shown up.

It was actually rather startling. One moment the rangers (okay, two rangers and two initiates) were all observing a mostly normal stretch of wilderness and the next a large presence appeared not even a mile away. It was jarring enough that even people untrained in sensing the Field would probably have noticed something. It was a powerful and blatant disruption.

They all made the same bird call simultaneously making Ethren flush slightly as it was not only a dead give away, but something that should have been trained out of the scouts. He hadn’t been given enough time to train any of them properly.

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Saravren heard his call to gather up, and she moved quickly to the small cold camp they had been using.

Deilos was currently on watch closest to the area of the disruption so the other rangers moved up to him quickly and silently as they waited for Ethren’s orders. He listened to the reports, then nodded. He issued commands quietly and they moved back out.

Saravren was the stealth expert of the group, and so she took point. The others would fan out and move cautiously. Ethren ordered them to only observe for now. They needed to know the disposition of this creature and learn more about it.

She found a little glade with a bubbly stream in the direction it was moving and waited. It was a nice morning with fluffy clouds and warmer spring temperatures, but the ground was moist and she made no noise. The area was ideal for her to observe, as she sat up in a tree and stayed where she could see the god, or whatever it was as it came near.

When she saw it break through the cover of the trees, it looked the same as the first time she had noticed it.

It was still clad in the strange shiny metal tunic with the metal cap, but she could see more as she was closer this time. It had small ears, hair only on its head, it was bulky with muscle, walked with confidence more than grace, and had no obvious breasts, so she decided it was a he. His skin was light and paler than those in the tribe, but he moved as if he owned the area around him. He wore strange leathers that didn’t seem to be properly treated with dyes or oils, but were extraordinarily well tailored to his form.

He walked quickly through the clearing and began to slowly move north. Occasionally he would fire strong magical blasts, but wasn’t using the grand area magics from before. It was only after the sounds died down that she realized he had cleared out more of the Twisted. The ripples that his presence and magics created on the Field made it hard to distinguish fine details.

As he moved further away, the rangers followed at a distance.

It took a while for Ethren to realize that the god had been moving directly towards twisted, one after another. He came to the dire realization that the god could probably feel the Field better than they could, which might mean that they were in danger staying as close as they had been.

He whistled ‘warning’ and motioned for a huddle.

As they grouped up, he said, “We need to be careful. It seems that it is moving from one Twisted to the next, which means it can probably sense the FIeld. We need to move further back, at the very least. Saravren, what did you observe?”

She quietly reported, “It is clearly male, though unlike any person I have seen or heard about. He has ears more like the Kailen than us and he has no tail, but his ears are round and skin pale. He doesn’t have the horns of the Kailen, so I do not know what he is. He wears some sort of metal cap and tunic that look strange. The metal is shiny like bronze, but it is a grey color. He has a long dagger of some sort, but I only saw it sheathed at his side before he moved too far away. He walks with confidence but seems to be using less strong magics than the first time I saw him.”

She noticed the other rangers look at her sceptically when she said that.

Ethren asked, “That powerful magic is less than he used before? It disturbs the Field so much it’s hard to believe he could use more power.”

She nodded, looking him in the eyes.

Ethren sighed, and looked away. He was thinking for a few moments, before he turned back to them.

He blew out a breath, and then said, “Okay, I think we need to move further back. If he can sense the Field anywhere near as well as I can, then we are in danger remaining this close.”

He was about to say more, probably trying to coddle her again and keep her back, but she spoke up before he could continue. “Only I can follow and observe. You are all too obvious. He sends out death magic towards things we cannot even notice at this range. If we all get too close, he will simply annihilate us, but I have already been close and he didn’t react. No one else in the clan has my skills at stealth. I think I should follow and observe while you move further back. Someone should report to camp, also.” She passionately gave her opinion. There were butterflies in her stomach, and she knew her tail was probably twitching nervously, but Ethren had said that she was almost a full ranger, so her words should have weight.

She looked at Ethren, trying to express how important this was, and to her surprise, he agreed.

Ethren stated,”I think you’re right, unfortunately. I also noticed how that… whatever it is… fired at Twisted I didn’t even sense. He would sense us easily. Looking at you now is the only way I even can tell you are nearby. Deilos, you will return to camp and update the council on what we have seen so far. Gloast, you will stay with me here, but we will fall back to the cold camp and pack things up.” and he seemed pained to admit it.

Ethren’s face twisted in an unfathomable expression. And Saravren’s stomach twisted further. She thought he might change his mind, until she saw that annoying smirk he probably thought he hid well.

“Now that I think about it, I cannot send a trainee for this observation mission.” He said, slowly and deliberately. Saravren tensed, she held her breath for his next words.

“It must be a ranger. So I guess that means I’ll have to make you one, doesn’t it?” He said, eyes twinkling. “Congratulations on the field promotion, Saravren. I told you before that I would speak to the council, but I think the situation is enough. These long months of training have not been wasted on you. Make us proud. Never forget your duty, and live your life with the honor of our ancestors to guide your heart.”

Saravren was swept up in emotions, knowing that this was a rare and great honor. She also knew she would be taking her angst of the little joke from Ethren out on him for months to come.

Saravren nodded solemnly to the group, “I won’t let you down.” she replied. Ethren and Deilos, the only full rangers, gave her a nod and a quick salute, while Gloast sent her a smile. They broke up to their duties quickly after.

She began to track the powerful man’s progress to the north. She could sneak up and observe but didn’t get too close. Hopefully, her observations would illuminate the character of this strange being. Her tribe was on its last legs, and if he was a threat, then she didn’t know what they would do.

The wilderness here was pristine and untamed, so it was hard to stay silent while moving. She used all of her training and experience to keep close enough to observe, but hopefully not close enough to be found.

As the man walked north, it seemed he was constantly aware of the actions of everything around him. He sent fire, ice, and force of great power, but never let his control lapse enough for anything but his target to be hit. He was silent and seemed totally at home within the woods.

Saravren thought she might be able to learn from his tactics. He walked with confidence, but also with great skill. None of the rangers seemed as at home in the woods as the strange man did. She decided to move a little closer to better observe his actions.

He always seemed so slow and methodical, but at the same time reminded her of the stories of great chiefs and hunters from her childhood with his competency.

He had been moving in slow arcs east and west, but in a generally northern direction for a while now. Saravren thought it was rather clear that he was systematically clearing the woods of any Twisted, and she was impressed that he was doing it all alone and seemingly without fear or taking damage.

She had become used to his pattern after a few hours and decided to move a little ahead of where he would be soon, so she could get a closer look at a meadow he would probably be walking through soon.

Eventually he moved into the meadow, just as she had predicted, and she studied him. It was a little strange seeing this person who had dealt so much death just walking slowly across the meadow as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The northern mountainous region was well known for being uninhabitable and flooded with dangerous Twisted and other more normal monsters.

As her clan had moved further north over time, the normal monster populations had begun to taper off, but there had still been things that would need to be watched for, lest they attack you at a moment of distraction.

She was musing on these thoughts and studying his face as he got closer and closer. That was until she realized far too late that he was walking more or less straight at her.

How had that happened?! She had been completely distracted!

Saravren froze.

What should she do?!

She tried to weave her stealth closer and stronger to her body, but it was obviously too late. This strange man was looking right at where she was perched in the tree. His blue eyes almost glowed as they bored towards her location. It was obvious her cloak was broken.

She was terrified. This creature was akin to the legends of their gods or great spirits - there was no way to fight against something like that.

Slowly, she relaxed her control of her stealth. It seemed the only way to let him know that she was here, but also not a threat. It would signal Ethren so he would realize something had happened. He would notice that she had dropped her stealth and hopefully come towards her. She didn’t move, just slowly brought her aura back to a normal level.

Tears were beginning to crowd her vision as the god or man suddenly stopped, eyes staring right at her. She didn’t want to die, but knew she was at the mercy of someone else.

He had come to a stop just out of the treeline from her and she could hear his heavy breathing. He looked.. Confused?

Saravren sent a prayer to her ancestors, and she hesitantly began to climb down the tree, never breaking eye contact.