My eyes strained against the light, the soft Morning warmth upon my skin had turned into a glare in my eyes which was rather unwelcome, the shade in the tree I lied against no longer acting vigil. It seemed as though the late afternoon was fast approaching.

My hand trailed by my side as I checked my things were still there. I’ve always been a heavy sleeper, so it was always wise to take stock of belongings after an afternoon nap. With a brief rummage of my pack,, I confirmed all was accounted for, with a few grunts of complaint as I began returning to my feet, the pack slung over my shoulder bow and quiver affixed below and shortsword by my side.

My gear was never particularly potent, the sword arm was standard iron blade, the bow short and fashioned of yew as most were, the pack a large Canvas like material that unfolded in to a nice one man tent and other then a simple bedroll, waterskin, some rations, and a few trinkets he had picked up since leaving the last town nothing of any particular note lied within.

I began moving slowly to the destination. I heard that there was a lake nearby that had both a beautiful lakeside view that was extenuated by small luminescent creatures that glow above the lake, looking like a starry sky above the pool hidden in the forest trees, and a great monster that was causing people who travel this way to begin to disappear, which meant there was a sizable bounty to fix this issue, some coin and a beautiful view nothing that a wandering traveller could hope for more, I thought to myself, as a pained smile slowly painted my face while I wandered towards the treeline that sat just over a mile away.

As I crested beyond the Forest boundary the sky slowly turned to an autumn orange as the trees shadows began to thicken around me, yeh this would be the perfect place to slink away a popular spot for people who know of it to get some privacy, well hidden, and not to forget a great view. I gave a firm breath in, my art unfortunately was not a subtle one, but I had in my journeys long since learned some useful methods to minimise some of the issues they posed.

My main hope was that they did not see me as any particular threat and more of a target.

With a soft tone I began singing the words echoing out in front of me a spitting image of me now sat 30 ft ahead of me moving between the trees and bushes.

“Oh~ Wandering child of the earth, Do you know just how much you're worth?”

The words echoed out as if they were coming from the other me. My own words are almost silent in comparison. In this choirious rapture my eyes scanned the area around my false form looking for any sign of movement.

“You have been on this path since your birth you were designed for mo~re”

The soft lullaby continued echoing out to trees who likely failed to appreciate the effort I had extended to such a song.

As I continued moving down towards the lake I began feeling a little uneasy, I don’t have the backup I used to and was well aware that being taken unaware could be my swift end the fact i had not seen my target yet ment one of two things, either they are not here or they are rather proficient at remaining hidden.

“There are those who will tell you you’re wrong, they will try to silence your song”

There were several options to reveal his opponent but he would lose the element of surprise and vastly lose the upper hand in the ensuing fight it was risky to forgo the location of his opponent but revealing himself would turn the fight into a coin flip at best, one on ones usually came down to skill, Luck, and equipment and more oft than not unless you had a hard advantage it would not be so great a difference to bet one's life on. Getting the drop on an opponent allows you to seriously hamper their ability to efficiently respond, no he would hold his tongue on revealing the opponent right now at least.

“But right here is where you belong so don’t search any~mo~ore”

The sky was growing darker by the moment perhaps in the darkness the target would take the opportunity to strike. I slunk behind a tree crouched and moved my copy a little closer. If the target did take the bait I would ideally want them in striking distance. I sat as still as I could awaiting the moment to occur.

Seconds passed that felt like minutes before minutes began passing that felt like hours.

“For you are the dawn of a new day that’s breaking, a masterpiece still in the making”

Every sentence of the song now had a creeping tension to it.

“The blue in a ocean of grey~ You are right where you need to be, poised to inspire and to succeed”

The air felt a little chilly as it brushed over my face when it passed on by my sword drawn and prepped, a bow would be better for safety though the blade would be more accurate with my nerves as they are.

“Soon you will come to find your own way~”

Some tension dropped as it was replaced by irritation. They never striked at a decent time, it was always mid-song like halfway in the verse or chorus. I could not blame them as you know that's when they are most unaware but still it felt rude.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“In your eyes there is doubt as you try to figure it out, but that's not what life's about so-”

And true as the arrow flies a figure fell from the trees upon the apparition there was no time to confirm who they were, their armaments or weapons it was just an adrenaline fueled moment.

No sooner had the creature began their descent had I dashed to their position, sword drawn and a different song in my heart.

“I'm looking at the man in the Mirror, I’m asking him to help me change!” I bellowed once I knew I was beyond their ability to react to my presence

As the words rung out from my lungs like a battle cry from me several such apparitions appeared each bearing my name face and song as each blade sunk into the target Before another swift change in song followed

“But for you there's only Glass and viseria, It’s time to teach you the taste of pain.” I roared in battle cry, crying out to this person who may well have this be the last thing they hear.

The words echoed and bent the wounds caused by myself and the 8 duplicates now rented across the body in another direction. The duplicates quickly faded and the pressure of pushing myself took its toll as some blood dripped from my nose and my muscles all began to ache. It was a front loaded gamble and it hurt, overstrain was a pain most who wielded Atherion knew struggling against it was largely unwise, but like most things your immediate health was a resource to be used, rather be beaten up then dead.

I looked down at the person, eyes getting some time to adjust and actually register their form and such. They appeared to be a furrin, they appear to have been wielding two daggers that had an oily sheen, likely some poison. They were not moving and with a quick boot the daggers were out of range of the assailant, the lack of movement seemed to suggest they were unconscious. With some caution I checked for a pulse Fast but existent, checked airways, still breathing. Perfect.

With a healthy amount of rope from my pack I bound Their hands and feet, and got to stitching and cleaning the wounds. They may be a murdering ass but they should at least be able to speak their piece in town court, the Kobal folk tend to be rather leanent as far as sentence go but the guy will likey be in the Pondstown cells for a long time unless something rather elaborate went down.

As I began stripping down the furrin bloke hoisting his shirt off his back before binding back up their hands, looked to be a Badger Furrin though not like you would be able to tell as he was, fur all matted with blood and several other scars adorned his body, i heard that there was a kinda furrin to the far west beyond Badail that had a reputation for aggression but never heard any such tripe about local badger folk before.

They began rousing not long after I had finished most of the initial patch up Shirtless and otherwise still bound I glanced at the fellow.

“Good morning sweetheart” I said in an admittedly patronising tone shooting him a glare as I did so.

His eyes widened as he seemed to contemplate the trouble he was in as his arms and feet began to struggle against the rather firmly knotted rope. A few grunts and a muffled curse in Gnarish came forth fairly swiftly.

“Jarkven!” he barked some expletive about faeces if memory serves.

I knelt down and looked him in the face, a small smirk beginning to sit upon mine as I witnessed this cruel person's visible frustration and occasional wince of pain.

“Now, let's not start talking about crap now. We are going to enjoy a pleasant view then be off towards the village. Oh and no struggling, my stitching is bad enough, you really don’t want to chance it.” I explained, unable to wipe the smirk of my face for sorting this out rather quickly.

as I reached for the rope that bound his hands and began dragging him in the direction of the lake.

“Bastard, my lands have been defiled and I will not stop until-” He screamed out in protest. I threw back a small kick which knocked him in the back of his head and stopped his incessant moaning for a second.

“Look man, I don’t know where you got this high horse about your land, but this place was in the middle of an ocean way back till my ancestors died to raise it, so let's not get all Mine Mine Mine, the Kobal did nothing to you, and frankly I imagine any punishment they give you will likely be far more nice then you deserve.” I said getting irate.

I dropped him for a moment and fished out some additional rope as I gagged him despite his protests before reaching over to his bound hands and continued dragging towards the lake as the sky got darker and darker.

As we moved to the lake clearing I could see the faint light dimming in the distance, the lake clear as crystal, still in the dying light a few fish could be seen darting back and forth as the chirps of bugs that sat upon nearby trees and thick grasses began seeking company for the cool night that was slowly drawn near.

Gazing out at this lake as night finally descended and small lights began illuminating around the top tiny lights of blues, greens, yellows, and reds made a cascade of light that bounded joyfully against the water making to a galaxy of colour reflecting from the pool, the soft chirps and pretty lights it was truly magical, the muffled groans of complaint were running it a little but still, I wished they could all see this. travelling alone is not quite the same. I found a solitary tear fall down my cheek, with a heavy heart I walked away, my tail slumped down, my horns heavy as I found myself looking to the floor as my dragging back to Pondstown began. I could swear with each step I took back I could hear the echo of the footsteps with others. they sounded better, happier.