I opened my eyes with a frown, and glanced down at my hand, pain lancing from it. There was a brightly colored lizard latched onto my fingers, each of its three heads ravenously gnawing on a different one. I raised my hand and looked the lizard over curiously. It had thin curved spines running down its back, which each seemed to be connected to the other with a membrane, creating a sort of sail. It had three pairs of limbs, each of them ending in a hand with six claws that stabbed into my flesh, giving it a hold on my arm. It had a pair of small incandescent wings sprouting from its back, which was probably how it managed to get this high in the tree where I had been resting. At the base of its neck sprouted two more heads, which were taking turns chewing on my hand viciously and hissing at me, a frilled hood puffing up around their sails, seeming to make them look bigger than they were.

I raised an eyebrow at the display and shrugged, casually flexing my hand and watching the odd creature squirm. I guess I could shake it off, or kill the damn thing, but… Eh, it wasn't worth the bother really. Besides, it didn’t even hurt that much. I carefully set my hand down, mindful not to crush the little guy. The lizard's heads stopped chewing for a moment to hiss at me in unison, and then got back to work on my arm, tearing out a chunk of my flesh and making me wince. I watched its antics for a bit longer, and then smirked and closed my eyes once more.

I'd been traveling around for a week or so now, checking out the surroundings around the wolves' old den and investigating anything that particularly caught my attention. It had been peaceful, and the snow hadn't even been that deep at first, before it gradually started to melt in the sun's rays. There were still patches of snow here and there, but for the most part, it felt like the forest was really starting to wake up. I saw small little critters and colorful birds flitting through the trees, and some were even especially interesting. Just like the lizard currently chewing on my forearm, or even like the mirrored spider, that seemed to have sixteen legs, and just as many eyes.

I sighed and stretched out, running my free hand along the wood of the branch I was lying on. I truly felt at peace for the first time in a long time, and I found myself taking my time whenever I strolled through the forest recently. It had only been about a week since I had killed the bear, so I didn't really need to hunt yet, since I still had quite a lot of jerky in my bag. Though, that didn’t mean that I turned down free food when the opportunity arose.

Over the last couple days I had hunted and caught a couple animals, like this massive venomous snake, or this weird monkey that had serrated claws and a barbed tail that had been using to swing about in the trees. There was even a large chicken with a shell that I'd had the displeasure of trying to kill. It had been incredibly annoying with its hard shell, and it had this infuriating habit of pecking straight through my feet. The others I killed for survival, and I didn’t feel any particular sadness. That one though… that damn chicken… I'd taken pleasure when I'd been devouring it.

The odd lizard bit down especially hard, and I sighed again and opened my eyes. I was high up in a tree, where I had climbed up before I'd closed my eyes and attempted to take a quick nap. I'd figured I was high enough that the only thing that was going to bother me was the birds flitting around, but I guess I should account for random vicious lizards from now on, eh? I whistled at the ravenous little lizard again and shook it lightly, trying to casually let it know it was time to let go. It hissed at me again, but it seemed to take the hint and unlatched, crawling onto the tree's trunk and glaring at me.

I raised an eyebrow at that, but stood up all the same, cracking my neck. My hand was already healing from the little chunks it had ripped out, so I jumped up and snagged the edge of the axe, which I had decided to bring with me whenever I went out, along with a small bag of bear jerky and other rations I had put together. Before I had gone to sleep, I'd hooked the axe into the base of the tree and hung my bag on the handle for when I woke up. After I had woken to the lizard gnawing on my hand, I'd half expected to see the colorful birds on top of it, or trying to poke through to get to my rations, but there was nothing there. Except… there seemed to be a couple feathers lightly resting on top. I looked at the lizard again, but it just hissed at me and coughed up a bunch of feathers.

I laughed and shook my head, “Well, thanks for guarding my bag little guy. Mind if I leave you some jerky? I know you’re full, but I hope you don’t mind?”

It hissed again, shaking its whole body, but it did cock its head to the side. I frowned at that, and hummed to myself. Did that mean that it didn't want the jerky? I guess it could have eaten it if it wanted to earlier… Hmm… I eyed the little lizard, who was flaring its hood again, and shrugged. The head on the left and center glared me right in the eye, but the head on the right was staring at my arm hungrily. Ah, so that's how it was.

I hefted the axe blade and swung at my arm, chopping it off at the elbow. Pain lanced through my body, and I winced as my arm fell to the branch. Never got any less painful, but oh well. My arm quickly started the healing process, pausing the blood flow as my skin flowed over the end of my arm. I set the axe into the side of the tree again and squatted down, grabbing my arm from where it had fallen and offering it to the little guy. It hissed at me, but this time it was more out of confusion than rage. It quickly darted forward, and latched onto my arm, yanking backwards. I laughed and let go, watching it scurry away with it, one head keeping an eye on me as it vanished into the leaves.

I swung my bag back over my shoulder and set the axe in the strap I'd made a couple days ago. I took one last look around, and then stepped off the branch, feeling the wind fly by as I shot towards the ground. I braced myself as I slammed into the earth, feeling my bones crack from the impact, sending pain lancing through my body. I straightened up with a groan and rolled my shoulders. Today I was gonna try and find where that river led, I didn't really trust the look of those plains, and I got this foreboding feeling whenever I went too deep into the forest, like there were a hundred pairs of eyes watching my every move. That just left the river for me to explore.

After I felt my bones mend again, I activated sprint and charged off into the forest, laughing at the freeing experience. I ducked branches and leaped over fallen trees, feeling the branches and leaves slap and slash at my skin as I dashed through the forest. Sprint had improved over the last seven days, along with my own stamina and levels, but even with that, I couldn't keep using it for too long. Especially with the bag of meat and the axe strapped on my back, which while not being exceptionally heavy, did slow me down a bit. Still though, I was able to make some good progress through the woods, and once I couldn't sprint anymore, I would just casually stroll and take a breather, making sure to avoid the other massive monsters that wandered through.

The river was about a day's walk away from the dens, though, with sprint activated, I'd probably get there by the end of the day. After that, I could just follow it wherever it led, and hope that this time I would end up somewhere interesting. I let out a loud laugh as I leaped up a large rock outcropping, and rested for a moment at the top, my eyes scanning the surrounding forest for any other monsters. It was peaceful though, and with another laugh, I jumped from the top, sailing through the air for a moment before I slammed back into the earth, my legs and knees complaining at the impact. I had loved the cold beauty of Grim’s realm, but at the end of the day, I preferred the unplanned and chaotic wonder that the wilds offered up as well.

I shook myself off and flew forward, dodging around the trees and rock outcroppings once more. After a moment, they began to thin out and then, I came upon a clearing. It wasn’t the first clearing that I had encountered, and I usually raced through most of them, but something about this one… screamed out to me. I was forced to stop in my tracks, and I slowly looked around.

I narrowed my eyes, and gripped my axe, squeezing it in both of my hands. Cautiously, I scanned the trees around the clearing, looking for any signs of danger, but… there was nothing there. I hummed to myself and slowly walked into the clearing, curiosity flowing through me. I didn't look like there should be anything special about this clearing, but as I looked around a deep part of me filled with white hot rage. I pursed my lips and took another step forward, pausing as I heard a crack. I frowned and looked down, seeing a broken white stick… or wait, no, was that a bone?

I crouched low and lifted the cracked bone up, frowning at it. It was similar to a femur bone, but it was absolutely massive, easily being as long as my whole arm. I eyed the grass and moved aside some of it, revealing more massively sized bones. I frowned and moved aside more, uncovering a great wolf skull. I leaned back on my heels as I lifted it to the sun, considering it curiously. It was absolutely massive, just like the other bones were, but obviously it had been out here for a long time. All of the meat had been cleaned off, and it was quite weathered. Still though, something about it tickled the back of my mind, igniting that same rage from earlier. I slowly examined it, but after I couldn’t find anything particularly interesting, I shrugged and tossed it aside. Eh, I wasn’t going to really find anything out from that damn thing anyways.

I hummed to myself and wandered around the clearing, kicking aside the grass and vegetation as I searched for anything else. There was another pile of wolf bones, this one being much smaller than the other massive one, a broken and rusted sword, and even a knife that I found buried in the wolf's skeleton. Other than that, I didn’t really see much else. Just an empty clearing with a couple old skeletons and a broken sword. It irked me how much I felt like this was important, but there was nothing I could really do about it. I shook myself one last time and set the small knife in my pack. It was still in pretty good condition, and I figured there was no reason to just leave it behind if I could help it.

I cracked my neck and let out a sigh. Well, I guess I wasn’t that far away from the river now, I might as well head on over. I slang my bag over my shoulder and headed towards the edge of the clearing, turning and giving the clearing one last look before walking out. What a weird feeling it had given me…

Once I made it to the river, I sighed and set my load aside. I had been thinking so much about taking a shower when I first awoke, but I still hadn’t really had the chance to actually take one over this last week or so. I laughed and jumped off the rocks lining the river, slamming into the water with a massive surge of water. I sank deep into it, closing my eyes as I finally hit the river bottom. After a moment, I opened my eyes and looked up at the watery world around me.

The sun's rays glinted through the water, making the clear water glitter as the bubbles from my descent floated upwards. I watched as curious fish swam around me, flitting through the water, as they darted up and around me. I blew out, and grinned as I watched as the bubbles from my breath flitted upwards through the water. It was… familiar being down here, though I guess that was probably because of the lake that I had almost drowned in within Verdant’s realm. I could feel the river water flowing around me and the air in my lungs slowly running out, but still I laid at the bottom, calmly running my hands through the water. The fish played around me, and I could even see a spiked turtle swimming through the water, its little flippers slicing through the water.

I sighed, and let out more air, watching it as it ascended through the water, following after its smaller cousins. I still had a bit of air left, so I figured I had at least a few more minutes down here to relax. After that… I guess it was time to start looking for someone who could understand what was written on that axe. Everything alive needed water, so if I followed the river… I’d have to find someone eventually, right? Well… that was the hope I guess. If that didn’t work… I could just randomly choose a direction and walk… right? Though, I’d also have to leave behind the den and all the stuff I had buried in it… Ugh…

I sighed again and pushed off the river bed, breaching the surface of the water after a moment. I wiped off the water in my eyes, and paddled over to the edge of the bank. My stuff was still where I had left it, and I let out a loud sigh, stepping out of the water, and glanced down at my now clean self. I had been covered in dirt and mud for so long, so I hadn’t actually had the chance to really check myself out.

My eyes scanned my flesh, and I froze as where I expected to be pale flesh, there was instead a large dark green tree, little flashes of color surrounding the base and dotted within the leaves emblazoned on my right chest. There was a large black bear to the side, a boar with a pair of mantis claws, a toad with fifty tongues, and even a spider with a snake head. The tree's roots darted out from the base of it, snaking around my chest and intertwined with glittering black ones. I followed them around my front half, trying to see where they led, but they all seemed to head towards my back. I backed up to the edge of the water and looked over my shoulder, trying to see where they led. I gasped as I saw it, a gorgeous black structure, ethereal and as unrealistically built as anything in Grim’s realm. The base of the black structure split into black spines, which were wrapped around a skull. The skull wasn't human or similar to anything I recognized, and it had great horns branching off of its head. It's jaw was filled with sharp teeth and fangs, and its base branched off as well, intertwining with the other vines all over my body.

I whistled in appreciation at the designs and took some time to admire them both. I wasn't sure exactly how or when I got them, but I had a feeling Verdant and Grim must have at least something to do with it. Perhaps they were linked to my abilities in some way? I sighed and shook my head. Eh, there wasn't really much I could do about that. I stretched out in the last of the sun's rays, and sighed. It wasn't long till sunset, so I probably wasn't going to be able to get far down the river. I might as well just hang out in one of the nearby trees and try to get some rest.

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I had been enjoying that a lot recently actually. It felt a bit overstated, even to myself, but I really hadn't been able to rest and truly sleep until recently. A real chance to just… live. Whenever I passed out from the pain of the wolves ripping me apart, or blacked out in Grim's realm, I just woke up in the next moment, not having dreamt or rested at all. So I was really starting to love that… the living that is. Just laying out in the sun, or listening to the nightlife late at night. I still wanted to find Xian, or whoever the axe might really belong to, but I didn't mind this either. Hell, I might even head back to that old den one day, clear out whatever had taken up residence there, and make it my home. Now though, I was going to find civilization, one way or another, and I wasn’t going back until I did.

I stretched out again and picked up my gear, heading over to the trees lining the river bank. I eyed each of them casually, looking for one that was tall enough and thick enough that I could rest on for the night. When I finally did find one, I shouldered my pack and leaped up, snatching the lowest branch with my free hand. I slowly pulled myself up, swinging my body over and on top of it, cautiously standing up. Then I sprang upwards again, catching the next branch and repeating the same actions. When I had finally made it to the top, I unsheathed my axe and set it into the trunk, hanging my bag off the handle like before. With that all handled, I laid out on the branch, watching the sky as it slowly began to darken. The sun still set early, even as winter seemed to be ending. I watched as the sky continued to darken, and the stars blinked into existence.

I enjoyed sketching out shapes and images of creatures using them, though I always did end up forgetting them by the next night. The stars didn't necessarily change their position, but I still felt like every night I looked up into the sky, it was like I was seeing them for the first time. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, savoring the cool night breeze as it blew over my exposed skin. The night crickets chirped, and I heard the singing of the weird crablike toads that came out only at night. As I felt sleep begin to overtake me, I allowed it, slowly sinking into the darkness as my mind wandered.

I let out a long sigh as I heard the screeching of the morning creatures. They were quite odd looking, and rather annoying certainlyI wasn't exactly sure what to call it, but it was covered in spiky spines and ran around on eight legs. It loved to screech in the morning though, which wasn't the worst way to wake up I guess, but ended up giving me a headache after only a few moments. I cracked my neck and leaped down from the tree, bracing myself as I crashed into the earth.

I searched around the nearby wilderness for anything to eat with my jerky, but I didn't really find anything immediately, and sighed. I guess I’ll just have to look around in the forest… I frowned up at where I left my axe and pack, but decided to just leave them behind. I didn't really need them if I was just searching for some berries and easy food. I hummed a little tune to myself as I headed off into the forest, glancing around for anything that really stood out to me.

I paused as I saw something blue shining in the distance. I grinned and headed off in that direction, dodging around the barbed trees and small cacti that were prevalent in this part of the forest. Finally, after I accidentally stepped on two cacti, and sliced myself on a couple of the trees, I managed to make it to the shiny blue object that I had seen. From what it looked like, the shining object that I had seen were these bright blue berries dangling off of this particularly large and spiked tree.

I leaped up and plucked a couple of them off of one of the branches, and popped them in my mouth, chewing after only a moment. They were… sour? But also unbelievably salty… Then they turned bitter, and finally they turned incredibly sweet, ending with a nice hit. They were an experience for sure, but I enjoyed the flavor, and I sighed and leaned my head back. Oh yeah… this was worth stepping on a cactus or two.

I chewed on another two, but then suddenly flinched as I felt a stabbing sensation in my throat, which quickly turned into a searing white hot burn. I gasped for air, and then started coughing, forced to take a knee as the convulsions racked my body. My vision blurred for a moment, and I blacked out for a moment as I kept on coughing. I groaned and shook my head, blinking rapidly and trying to rub my eyes, but as they touched my face, I just felt a wet sensation on my hands.

I groaned and shivered, but after a while the coughing started to finally subside and my vision slowly returned. I groaned and fell backwards, splaying out on the undergrowth. I didn't even care that I could feel the cacti spines stabbing into my skin. I just laid there and recovered for a moment, reawakening from whatever the hell that had been. I let out a sigh and sat up, wincing as I felt the cactus spines rip out of my skin.

I eyed the berries again for a moment, before shrugging and grabbing a bunch of them. Eh, they tasted good at least. And besides, I could already feel my body healing up from the effects, my torn lungs feeling brand new. I sprang up, and pushed out of the clearing, wrapping the berries up in my bear hide. I'd probably eat them for dinner and breakfast tomorrow, though maybe after I tried cooking them… Maybe that would kill the negative side effects?

I jogged over to where the tree and my stuff was, and clambered up, hanging the bear hide with the berries next to my bag. I dropped down and rolled my shoulders, eyeing the forest once more. Alright, I might as well look around for any wildlife. It’d save me a day's worth of rations if I could catch something and cook it. I straightened out and eyed the river, before shrugging. No real use trying to catch those fish, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to hold on even if I could snag one if I was being honest. They had darted so quickly around me yesterday, and they didn't seem to mind me. Same thing with those spiked turtles and the toad-like crabs. None of them had ever seemed especially scared of me, but that was probably more so because of their confidence in their ability to escape than any real fear of me.

I sighed and eyed the forest again. I guess it was off to hunt again. Maybe I could find one of those weird chickens with a shell? They had tasted delicious, and I still had a grudge against them after the total pain in the ass that the other one had been. Yeah… I’d enjoy killing and eating another one. I hummed to myself and started off into the forest, carefully making my way.

I had started off confident, but it still took me a while to find any game markings, but finally, almost as soon as I gave up, I lucked out. I was checking out this odd hoof print, when I suddenly heard a squealing noise. I cocked my head to the side and looked around, checking to see where the noise was coming from. I realized that whatever had made the noise must have been a bit farther into the bush… maybe it was the cause for the hooved footprint? I narrowed my eyes and stood up from my crouch. I made my way towards the noise, creeping through the undergrowth cautiously. I followed it as best I could, dodging around a couple of the trees, and made my way over a rock outcropping, stopping at the edge of a clearing.

I pursed my lips together, and looked around the clearing, fully expecting to see a herd of pigs or something given all the squealing, but there were only a few things in the clearing. There were rocks and those same barbed cacti everywhere, and in the very center there was a tall tree. It was twisted and warped, and each of its dark branches looked sickly. Almost in spite of that, the tree spiraled up into the air. Near the apex, a particularly thick branch stuck out, and dangling from it was a rope with a squealing boar, its sides covered in quills.

I frowned and slowly made my way in a circle around the clearing, checking for anything that would say it was a trap, but I couldn't find anything. Not even on the second circle around. I sighed again and rolled back on my heels considering. On one hand, free breakfast and food for a few days, on the other, it was almost definitely a trap. I narrowed my eyes and chewed on my lip, considering. The trap was already sprung, which was probably why the boars tracks led to this clearing. I didn’t really have anything besides that dagger I had found to kill it, so this was probably my best chance at finding any game for awhile.

I let out another sigh and straightened up. I wasn't going to just swoop in and steal that poor hunter's meal. Besides, I had no idea if they were friendly or not. What if they tracked me down and killed me, or worse, imprisoned me? I'd just have to subsist on the jerky and berries for now… ugh. I turned and started walking back, ducking under a branch and hopping over another little rock. As I landed on the ground, I cocked my head as I heard a slight noise. I didn’t recognize the noise, but… it seemed somehow familiar as well, and I frowned. What the…

I grunted as I felt something slam into my shoulder, forcing me to take a step forward. I whipped around and looked for the source, dropping down into a crouch. My eyes flicked back and forth, scanning for anything that stood out, but I didn't see anything. I growled, and slowly started shifting away, keeping an eye on everything until I heard that noise again. My ears were pricked for the slightest ounce of change, and then I heard it, and I dropped to the earth just as I felt the wind whoosh by above me, and then felt a thunk of pain as it still managed to hit me. I growled again and reached for my shoulder, grasping the haft and ripping it out. I grunted as I felt it tear out, taking a chunk out of my shoulder. Gods that fucking hurt. I glared down at what had hit me, which was a simple long arrow. It was obviously not the highest of qualities, probably but I didn't care. Some bitch had just fucking shot me! With a hunters arrow!

I roared and activated sprint, charging into the forest. I wasn't going to just try to run away, I wanted this bastard! The last arrow had come from behind me, but I knew they wouldn't still be there. They had to be somewhere over… there! I leaned back and threw the arrow I had ripped out of my shoulder, but just as I was about to let go, I grunted as I felt another heavy impact in my gut. Then another in my shoulder, and then in each leg, knocking me back and pinning me to the tree behind me.

I growled and spat in front of me, straining at the arrows with all I could. Pain lanced from each spot, but I still struggled against the bindings, because I could feel it. Just a bit of… movement! I laughed and strained again, pushing with my whole body, and just as I felt my leg begin to slide a bit forward… three more arrows flew forth and slammed into me. The air hissed out of my lungs as one of the arrows slammed into my chest, piercing through me and knocking me all the way back into the tree. I gasped for air, as I felt my body frantically try to heal and fail as it was blocked by the shafts of arrows. It struggled to repair what it could, but it was an uphill fight the entire time, and the air was fast flowing. I blacked out for a brief moment because of the oxygen deprivation, and when I finally came to, I wasn't alone anymore.

Striding out of the forest came a tall, muscular, and gorgeous warrior. She wielded a huge warmace, and walked with grace, even in the forest. I spat blood at her and roared, right before another arrow slammed into my throat, turning my ferocious roar into a wet gargle as my body went into overtime trying to keep me alive. The lady raised an eyebrow at the display and looked away disinterestedly, as an old man and another armored warrior came out of the forest behind her. I didn't even look at them though, as rage flowed through me like a viscous river at the sight of the lay. I didn't know who the hell this lady was, but I hated her, and everything she was. My vision turned red, my heart slammed into my chest, and I felt my blood roaring in my veins. My hands and fists clenched and shook, and my whole body vibrated with rage as it strained to throttle this damned warrior.

I struggled against the arrows, tearing even larger wounds in me, but still I was held fast, and two more arrows thunking into me made sure of that. I strained harder and harder, only stopping when I saw a cloaked figure materialize out of the woods, a large greatbow in his hands. This one… I hated him almost as much as the lady. I cocked my head to the side and frowned. How had I known that the cloaked figure was a he? How… odd. Still though, fuck them both! I bared my bloody teeth at them, and spat in their direction, unfortunately falling short.

He stared at me for a moment, and then started laughing. He clapped his hand on the old man's shoulder, who had somehow procured a pipe out of nowhere. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly a flame appeared in his fingers, which he used to light the pipe. The cloaked figure leaned closer to the old man and whispered to him, saying something which evidently shocked him. The old man raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down, narrowing his eyes intently for a moment. Then he leaned back and started laughing as well, holding his stomach as his guffaws resounded through the clearing. I just continued glaring at them, making sure to spit in the old man's direction the next time I got the chance.

I roared and struggled to move once more, but the man with the bow casually flicked a knife at me, impaling my arm. The blood started to run down and I gave him a bloody grin, sticking out my tongue and then coughing up a wad of blood. The old man merely stepped around the bloody spittle and bowed to the lady, who had been reading off of a scroll she had pulled out of her satchel.

After a moment of him whispering, the lady let out a long sigh and turned towards the others, “Okay, so is it the spy or not?”

The old man straightened out and took a step backwards, shaking his head slightly, a small smile coming onto his face, “No it is not my lady, but it is someone you may be very interested in seeing again.” He took a step to the side and motioned to me with a flourish, “Right here, we have the reject from the summoned, you remember, the useless one?”

The lady frowned and looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time. Her eyes narrowed, and after a brief moment she pursed her lips and turned to the man with the great bow, “I thought you told me he was dead?”

I frowned at that, glaring at the back of their heads, but the cloaked man just shrugged, “I don't know what to say Lady, I left him behind in a clearing surrounded by Dire wolves. Hell, I heard his screams myself. There's no way it could be him.”

The lady frowned and turned to me, looking me up and down once more, “Even so… the resemblance is rather uncanny. That, and there’s the whole manner of their name still being… Hmm… Easily fixed in the end. Baern, Xi, ensure the proper end of this one. We'll search for a while longer for that damn aelir before continuing.”

With that she turned and strode out into the woods again, not even casting a last look over her shoulder. The old man bowed, before saying, “Of course my Lady Cylkia, I'll make sure to fix Halfi’s transgressions indefinitely.”

My eyes widened as he said those names, and I realized why I had felt so much rage when I saw them. These were the ones who had screwed me over, these were the ones that had fucked me over in the first place. And they were just about to leave me to die again! I growled, and strained at my bindings frantically, but there wasn't even a shiver of movement. I roared and spit blood, but still, the only thing I was able to achieve was ripping open my just healed wounds. As I felt my blood pouring down my body once more, I watched as the old man took one last inhale of his pipe. The great warrior unsheathed an absolutely massive war sword, but stopped as the old man held out an arm towards them. He slowly turned to me, still inhaling, and gave me a wink. I bared my bloody teeth at him, and he slowly finished taking his long drag, a wide grin on his face.

He blew out, but instead of smoke, a swirling spiral of dark red flames exploded from his mouth, racing towards me. I didn't have time to scream as they slammed into me, incinerating layer after layer of my flesh and body. My already overworked regeneration was really put to the test as I roared in agony as my body burned easier than a pile of dried out leaves. As the old man, Baern, and the bowman, Halfi… Laughed at my screams, the armored warrior took a step closer to me. Just as I felt my eyes begin to sear, boil, and then pop out of their sockets, I felt a cold metal slice through my neck, cleanly cutting my head off.

I tumbled from my body's still impaled shoulders, burning and aflame. The world was nothing, only the sensation of burning. Only pain and agony. The darkness took longer than I was expecting to take me, but when it did, it had to take a pause when it encountered the unrelenting rage flowing through me. I spat, kicked, and screamed for blood. ‘Bring me the fucking heart of that bitch or don't fucking come near me you fuck!!!’

The darkness recoiled from me, and slunk away. I growled, screamed, and roared, rolling around on the ground as the fire burned and incinerated more and more. I could feel the Unending Vitality slowly begin to fail, and the retreating darkness came back, circling around me. It hissed and whispered, promising me sweet relief and peace, but I didn't want that. I wanted that goddamn fucks heart! I roared at it again, snapping at its heels. It trickled away, but not far. It could sense my life fading, and it was ready for when I faltered.

I growled and hissed, the healing keeping me from dying, but also keeping my nerves alive and raging. The darkness edged closer and closer, and my roars and snaps became less and less frequent. I struggled, and strained, but I was failing. I was running out of rage faster than I could heal from the intense flame engulfing me. The darkness slithered forth, and snapped forward trying to engulf me, but I spat at it and strained, causing it to back off for a moment. However, it knew that I was too weak now. Once it sensed the first sign of weakness, it shot forward and wrapped around me, swallowing me up.