Cearbhail:

This took me a while to do. For obvious reasons.

Oh... and enjoy. =^^=

[Sebastian Koorikaze]

My mornings began as they always did. I rose from my bed, opening the windows, letting the morning rainbow mists shine in their beauty. The mists in Kinohi, right before the sun rises, turn all sorts of mystical colors. Most kitsune lose interest in gazing at the rainbow mists, but… I still like to rise before the sun to see the pastel colors lightly glowing on the dark green grass.

I sat at my windowsill, gazing at the nebulae arcus for the next hour. Thoughts of my mother floated through my mind. She would wake me up and let me sit on her lap to watch this rising mist. Thoughts of me helping her collect her research samples for her alchemy experiments rose up, driving my tears back to my eyes. The memory of hearing the explosion in her lab, seeing her lifeless body collapsed against the wall, her current potion experiment failing so hard that it literally destroyed her soul. A kitsune can exist without a body, because we exist as an astral body and a physical body. If a kitsune dies, it can almost always be resurrected in our healing spas… as long as it has a soul. My mother… she was experimenting with some kind of potion that would make kitsune stronger… to make our astral abilities far stronger than they currently were. She believed we needed to be stronger as a race… in case our enemies tried to invade us… and actually succeeded. And her experiment killed her. Her astral body couldn't handle the potion, and it sundered her spiritual form.

I was going to become an alchemist like my mom. Being the chieftain of Taiyomachi was a role I was born into, but alchemist was my dream job. I still would go to her shed and mess around with potions of healing and whatnot whenever someone needed one. I didn't go as often these years, and I go less and less with each visit to her shed. It just made me so sad to stand where she stood, to mess with the same craft that killed her. It hurt to remind myself of how she died, and these days… going into her shed, I could only see her lifeless eyes gazing into mine. I was 10 when she died.

I sat like that for an hour, thinking about mom. Yesterday, I did the one thing I never wanted to do. I killed a group of adventurers. I normally led them out of the woods, allowing them to escape without having harmed anyone or damaged any plants. But yesterday… their lifeless eyes… I could still see them. And to be honest… I needed it. And they needed to die. My mom was preparing us for the inevitable day that soldiers like those Illuskans managed to find their way to our village. Most of our villagers were simple people. We lived, we played, and we ate rabbits and mushrooms that we farmed. We weren't a militant nation. And if those Illuskans had found our village, which was only 1 mile away from where I found those soldiers, then… my friends might have been killed. We might have access to Kitsune Trickery, and Foxfire… but… I don't like the odds of a trained religious zealot being pitted against one of my friends.

And that's why I was up this morning… thinking about how my friends might end up like my mom. I had to keep our borders safe. No matter the costs.

"Excuse me, sire." Our servant, Anzu, one of the mothers of my friend Tanuki, knocked on my door. "Your father would like to have tea with you."

I sighed, rising off my cushion. "It's barely daybreak and he wants to have tea?" Dad never wanted to have tea this early in the morning. He barely crawled out of bed before noon.

I walked over to the door, nodding my thanks to Anzu. "A little early for you, isn't it?"

Anzu smiled thickly. "Well… I kind of spent the night." She scratched at her whiskers. "Keiko wanted to drink last night… and you probably don't know what she's like when she drinks… but she snores loudly. So, on nights like this, Tanuki and I will spend the night. Your father allows us to use Rena's old room." I forgot my Aunt Rena still had a spare room for whenever she came by to visit. My cousin Kuzu just rolls out a mat to sleep on my floor whenever she visits. I miss her almost as much as I miss mom. She was like my younger sister. She moved away right after mom died.

"So, I'm guessing Dad is in the tea room?" I followed behind Anzu as she led me through the halls.

"Yes, sire." Anzu said with a smile. She stopped by the tea room, waving her hand to the sliding door. "I shall be taking my leave then." She dipped in a small bow before taking a step away from me, giving me clear entrance to the room.

I sighed as I grabbed the sliding door's handle. I exhaled, allowing my shoulders to sag before I straightened up, pushing the door open. I forced a smile as I walked into the room, taking a deep bow before shutting the door behind me.

My father, Sebastian Sr. waited for me at the table set up in the middle of the room. He was already sipping a small cup of herbal tea, a small pot set off to the side. When Dad saw me standing at the door, he gave me a warm smile, gesturing for me to join him at the table.

Might as well get this over with. I quickly but politely moved across the room, quickly sliding up a cushion for me to kneel on, folding my legs underneath me in a seiza sitting posture. I glanced down at the pot of tea Dad had pulled out for us today. It was one of mom's favorite tea pots, one we hadn't used since she died. So… was today the day we were going to talk about her then? He had avoided talking about her as much as possible. He usually set the tone for our tea talks by the pot he'd use. He was a fan of color theory, using the color for the emotion the discussion would emulate. If he chose mom's pot… well… he'd already set the tone before I even poured my first cup.

I sighed as I reached for the pot. Dad watched me as I poured my cup of tea. I glanced up at him, seeing his eyes still warm and tearful, like he was expecting this talk to be something he wanted to avoid, but knew he had to bring up. Dad wasn't shy with his emotions. Kitsune were open with who they were, and we didn't really hide our emotions from others. We're astral beings… you can't hide your soul, so don't bother hiding your emotions.

I poured a cup of tea, taking in the hints of honey and jasmine. Some lavender mixed in. Mom's favorite brew. Yup… Dad definitely knew what he wanted to talk about today.

I brought the tea to my lips, blowing lightly as I took my first sip. I savored the floral scent brushing my nose as the heated leaf water washed over my tongue. It wasn't scalding, but the tea was freshly made, still hot off the fire.

I set my tea cup down, surprised that I had tears flowing down my eyes. Years and years of trying to overcome the death of my mother were quickly coming back to me. I had been carrying a weight, and just with this one moment, it felt like that weight was sliding off my shoulders. I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward, exhaling my first pout, taking in a deep breath as I fought the urge to burst into tears.

My dad reached over, embracing me, wrapping me up in his arms. "Let it out, son."

I sat there for a moment, letting myself express my outrage. Dad never said a word, never relaxed his hold on me. Once my tears started to calm down, my dad released me, allowing me to take my proper seat.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, both of us just drinking our tea. And then, he finally broke the silence. "The whispers in the branches sang me a song of your acts yesterday." He said it so casually that you'd think he wasn't disappointed.

"You weren't there." I replied. "The soldiers intended to harm our forest."

Dad nodded. "And they would have left with a mushroom." Dad looked up from his cup of tea, looking me in the eye. "You left with blood on your hands."

I felt a growl forming in my throat. "And today they would have returned for three. And tomorrow, ten. And the next day… our village." I pointed out to the southern end of our room. "They were a mile away. Right on our doorstep. A gnome was leading them. From that town… Owl's… something."

"Owl's Rest." Dad added, almost chuckling at the thought. "Our enemies know our woods too well, it would seem." He sipped at his tea. "But perhaps… they don't need to be … enemies?" Dad gave me a knowing look.

I shrugged. "You trust Illuskans?"

Dad shrugged back to me. "We never met Illuskans in a formal setting. Perhaps you should meet with the strangers, strike up a conversation, and learn about them. Set up a tea table, and invite them for a cup." Dad gestured to his cup of tea. "I've always believed that strangers are friends hiding in the mists of obscurity. And tea is a great way to dispel that obscurity."

I almost chuckled at the thought. I took another sip of my tea. "I don't think your wise saying is worded correctly."

Dad only laughed. "Perhaps my way with words isn't as great as I would like them to be, but my message is coming in clearly… yes?"

I nodded. "Of course, father. I just advise that we can't let Illuskan Paladins walk into our village. They don't seem to like magick too much."

Dad set his cup of tea down. "And perhaps… we need to talk to them, get an understanding of each other established. The Paladins only kill out of fear of the unknown. If they know us… they will have nothing to fear."

Not after yesterday where I let several of their knights fracture their minds with powerful illusions. The bodies were probably buried under the mossy swamp by now, but there is always the fear that these Paladins came into our woods… they were soldiers. They would have told their superiors about their mission, or would have been given one. Either way, the fact that these soldiers didn't report back will lead to more soldiers coming to look for them. I have to be ready for this eventuality.

I sighed as I placed my tea cup down. "I have a feeling we'll be having some visitors today."

"Should have chosen to have a cup of tea with them yesterday." Dad replied, a knowing smirk on his muzzle forming.

I leaned back on my haunches, holding my balance with my hands. "They'll be stronger today. Probably more too."

Dad only sighed. "And the cycle will only continue until we achieve peace."

How was I going to end this war that was inevitably going to spring up? Either way, I have to patrol the woods today. I have to be ready for whoever was foolish enough to invade our territory.

…

[Kara Kulenov]

The town of Owl's Rest was pretty cozy after all. I was a little worried that I was setting up for Owl's Rest to be filled with werewolves or something, but no… it was a nice small town. Too small for the size of it though. There were a lot of abandoned buildings, most of them on the outskirts of the town. My rogue 'this is bad' alert was going off like crazy, but we got our rooms, and had a nice sleep. Since the town had a sizable human population, there were plenty of inns that could accommodate our huge sizes, which I was a little worried I'd be curling up on a gnome-sized bed. But it turned out that we got through the night without any worries.

The town itself was lovely. The human district, while small in comparison to the rest of the town (which I found both ironic and hilarious), had plenty to offer for us, including a store that sold some basic cold protection. We all bought some winter jackets and climbing picks in preparation for the climb up the snowy mountain tops. And then we had some early morning tea. Erwin got some meditation in, and then we met up by the edge of the town. Everyone had their winter gear packed away in their new backpacks. While Erwin and Kurohana were out doing their shopping, I scouted out one of my contacts, a local hunter and guide through the Brightwoods. She would happily point us in the right way and provide a map for me. A copy of an even older map, but one that accurately defined the outer pathways through Elder Gleam. And since I don't want to go in too deeply, I'll gladly have a map that shows the outermost paths to take.

Once I had everyone gathered up at our meeting spot, I nodded down to my contact, Nyx. "Everyone, this is Nyx. She's going to be our guide today."

Nyx nodded to the group. "Welcome. I gave Kara a map. And the pathway I suggest is right here." She waved to the pathway just off to our left. "I marked this path on the map, and marked in red where it leads. Just follow the red and you'll make it to the dwarven pass in no time. Well, for us gnomes it takes all day. For you long legs, I'm guessing 12 hours." Nyx said with a wide smile and a chuckle. "Anyway, there you go." She held out her hand to me, giving me a knowing glance.

I rolled my eyes, but happily placed 100 gold in her hand. "Thanks, Nyx. Worth every gold."

She nodded, counting the coins in the pouch. "Anytime, Kara. You're always welcome here." She turned to leave. "If you have no questions, I'll take my leave."

"And so… let me get this straight." I looked down at Nyx. I gestured to the pathway that led into the fabled haunted forest. "This pathway will lead us through Elder Gleam… all the way to the end?"

"Yes, ma'am. According to our old maps, anyway. But…" Nyx placed her hands on her hips. "Why would you dare risk entering these woods? The spirits living there are dangerous. Just yesterday, my husband led some Illuskan ecological surveyors into the woods. And… they've yet to come out."

"Surveyors?" Erwin asked. "Surveying what?"

Nyx shrugged. "They wouldn't say much, but there's some kind of ecological problem they're trying to get a handle on. They believe if they can survey some flora and fauna from Elder Gleam, they think they can prevent some kind of… thing. I don't really know more than that."

Kurohana sighed. "Illuskans come here often?"

The gnome woman shook her head. "No, ma'am. I think they were pretty desperate to come this far into their supernatural territory. Their Faith doesn't work too well on things from around here."

"And this map you've given me… it's accurate?" I held up a copied map from an even older map made a few hundred years ago. It had a brief sketch of the Elder Gleam Forest from the left portion of it. It spanned from the village and had several routes leading to what appeared to be sketched villages and the mountain. Thankfully enough, the Dwarven Town was sketched on this map too. I could use this with my compass to get us safely to the pass, as long as this ancient map was still relevant. Not to mention, the path Nyx recommended was laid out in red. Perfect… as long as it's accurate.

Nyx shrugged. "That map was made 200 years ago. But whenever we enter, the bigger paths seem to be correct." Nyx started to back away. "I wish I could tell you more, but whenever we enter the woods… people don't remember going in, and if they do… they have horrible dreams about the guardian of the woods. Some kitsune warrior that protects this part of the forest."

Erwin glared at me. "Hear that? It's not safe."

"Might be hard, but I think we can handle this path." I muttered to myself, trying to get a handle on how badly this could go if I was wrong about this. I have a compass. If we get lost… we improvise.

"Haven't you done this before?" Erwin crossed his arms, arching an eyebrow at me.

I shook my head. "To get to Illuska, we kind of went along the Northern Shou border, traveled to a town actually inside of the Elder Gleam, or at least… right on the outskirts of it. Sakuratou. And Sakuratou is a very nice village. I have a kitsune friend: Kuzu." The town was a combination of a kitsune and a dragonborn village. It was a village that was formed on the practice of trying to let two cultures trying to come to an understanding. It's relatively new, only founded 30 years ago.

"And we're not taking this route because?" Kurohana walked up.

"It would add 3 days onto our journey, which we're trying to get there in time to help the Tower… if it needs help. Elder Gleam is massive, and we'd have to enter Northern Shou, which I will remind you, is currently at war with Damara and Illuska. The border is heavily watched. We waited days, days, to find an opening between both Kalinski's forces and the dragons of Shou. Not to mention the massive wall. Getting over it with paragliders is one thing… climbing up it from the other side is another. No…" I shook my head. "Unfortunately, the only way into Damara from this side is to go through the extremely safe Elder Gleam Forest. Which if we just keep going north, keeping our eyes on our compass, and our feet on a path that leads to the other side of the forest, we should be there in 12 hours."

It was getting hard to convince these people to take the quickest route. I know the path through Damara's mountains; I trained up there for years to know the terrain in case Kalinski ever figured out that Kulegrav was no longer an ally of Damara. Luckily, our town was never invaded, but knowing how to fight in the mountains would help us. And Kulegrav is relatively close to the Magi Tower we're heading to. And close to the mountain we're heading up. It's how I know about this abandoned Dwarven pass anyway. If I say this is the quickest way to the Magi Tower just on the other side of the mountain, then I mean it. I've spent the last day reading every map I could get my hands on, trying to figure out the best route. This is it. And I've made kitsune friends, so I'm sure these haunted woods are not as dangerous as the gnomes in this village would have us believe.

I smiled as I gestured to the map in my hands. "Look, we have a map; we know where we're going. And trust me… we'll be fine." I glanced over to Nyx. "Thank you, Nyx, for all your help."

Nyx nodded a farewell to me. "Kara… you be safe. Understand?"

I nodded back. "Always." I clapped my hands, gesturing to my team. "So… are you ready?"

"To die?" Kurohana muttered to herself, drawing a small nervous chuckle from Erwin.

I groaned as I turned around. "Okay, children, if you're done. Let's go into the 'haunted' forest now."

Erwin looked down at Lil-Gem. "Are you ready?"

Lil-Gem held up her small crossbow, nodding vigorously. "Snowflake and I are ready!"

…

[Sebastian]

Hours and hours of walking through the usual routes the gnomes like to take, keeping my ears open to any leaf whispers warning me of trespassers. The words of my dad kept working their way into mind. I hated that he was so quick to opt for delusional peace. We tried peace a long time ago with the gnomes… and the dwarves. It ended with the northern southern parts of our woods poisoned with their ceaseless pollutions. The dwarves using trees for their furnaces, and the gnomes using our plants for explosive elixirs. Not to mention the runoff pollution causing countless animals and plant life to become poisoned. Our one home slowly growing sick from their mistreatment of our woodlands. We learned long ago not to trust those who would encroach on our territory. And I'll be damned if I let some Illuskans march in here to make another barracks for their war with Shou. So far we've avoided open war with Shou, and I aim to keep it that way.

It had been a pretty bland morning so far. Not one whisper of intruders, not one sign of footprints I've missed. I was thinking about heading home and seeing Cloud.

"Intruders… Owl's Rest's Violet's Walk Route." A slow whisper brushed against my neck. Well… here we go again.

I readied my tonfa. Maybe this time I'll go in myself and greet the intruders.

I raced as quickly as I could. I knew the route they were heading through. Just west of the route I protected yesterday. I could get there in minutes if I traveled as quickly as I could. The mists of Elder Gleam grew thicker and thicker as I pushed further. I was getting close. Time to get off the ground.

I reached out for a treant to take my hand. A branch lowered down, letting me grab ahold of it. The treant pulled me up, throwing me into the sky. I soared through the branches, planting my feet long enough to push off again, having another treant throw me along the skywalk. I'd be there even quicker now.

I flew through the trees for a few minutes, finally coming to a stop on a treant's heavier branch. I could hear the humans now. I could even see them down through the mist.

"How long is this going to take?" A cat… person? I think it was a cat person. Anyway, the human cat was looking to the human with the weird long undercut, who led the ground with a map drawn out of crayons.

I found a growl forming in my throat. There were four of them. One human, one… pointy-eared human, kind of pale too. A human cat person thing, and… a… fucking… gnome child.

I gripped the treant harder, trying to hold my snarl. These humans, maybe humans, were armed. The cat human had a katana strapped to her belt; the human had a few daggers, and a crossbow, and the pointy-eared skinny pale human had a wizard's staff. Not friends then. They were here for war. And with that map… it looked like they were heading to Izumi, our most northern town on the western side. Or even Onsen to the southwest. Onsen didn't have a large population. These four, if they were careful could do a lot of damage to Onsen if they kept to the shadows.

Well, then… so much for peace. I reached out with my hand, focusing on our four intruders. Let's see how they like… some trickery.

…

[Erwin]

We have been traveling in these woods for an hour now, and it felt like we were going around in circles, even if I know we haven't been. The trees all look the same, and that's coming from a Druid… one that spends most of his time in woods much like this one. I've spent my whole life worshipping nature back home in Farvaan, and even I can tell that these woods are alien to anything I've ever seen before. The trees are strange and warped, trunks and branches twisted, circling in on themselves, creating portals to other realms all wrapped up in each curl, each twist. Thousands of portals all wrapped up in a single tree, and there were hundreds of trees. And I could hear the trees whispering to each other.

These woods were alive.

And try telling that to Kara, the optimistic rogue who just wants us to take the quickest route to her country. I tried to warn her that these woods would be our deaths if we disrespected them. And it seemed that we angered the woods. The whispers… they speak in language of the fae. My mom taught me how to speak fae, if not so that I could hear nature talking to me. And the trees were constantly reporting our position to someone. I don't know who, but I can feel eyes on me from all angles. And with this thick fog rolling in all around us, wrapping me up in confusion, I knew I was already too deep into a trap to walk out.

"Kara… where are we?" I called out. I just saw her in front of me, but a wave of fog consumed her, and I could see where she was now. Stupid darkvision. Good for everything but fog.

"I'm up here." I heard Kara call back. It was calling off to my left. My left? She was right in front of me.

"Kara… where?"

"Here." She replied, even further away now.

The fog was even thicker now; I couldn't even see an inch in front of my own feet. I kept a hand in front of me as I pushed forward.

"This way."

"Come on, Erwin…"

"this… way…"

Damn it! She's getting further away. I have to pick up the pace.

"Keep up, Kurohana! I think she's getting too far away." I looked back for Kurohana, finding nothing but fog.

…

[Kurohana]

"Get away from me!" I slashed with my katana. The ghost in the fog laughed as I slashed through its body. As I cleaved the head from its ethereal body, three more ghosts formed in their spot.

"You failed…"

"You let us die…"

"Join us…"

"Yes, join us."

"Kurohana!" Erwin's scream burst through the fog. "I found the exit! It's over here."

My ears perked at hearing him call for me. But… he was behind me. I… I thought we were heading in the other direction. Maybe I got turned around fighting these ghosts? If Erwin found the exit, I shouldn't stay here and fight a unnecessary fight. We have to press on.

…

[Kara]

"Brother?" I could see Ivor standing in front of me. "I thought you were going to Stormwind."

Ivor stood in front of me, hands on his hips. "And leave my baby sister to screw up another mission?" He shook his head. "If I ever thought about letting you do this alone, you'd just get another person killed."

"What?" I felt like Ivor had just stabbed me through my heart. "You… you never talk to me like that."

"It's been building for a while." Ivor scowled at me. "Mom… Liz… Dhimen…" My heart stabbed at hearing Dhimen's name again. "All your fault. And here you are… doing it again." Ivor reached over his back, pulling out his greatsword. "I'm here to stop your idiocy once and for all."

"Brother…" I reached for my daggers. "Don't…"

"I don't have a say anymore." He screamed, charging at me.

…

[Lil-Gem]

Why was everyone just standing around? I thought we were heading for Damara. And… everyone just stopped moving. Daddy Erwin was standing right next to me, his eyes looking up at the sky. Kurohana was doing it too. And Kara was fidgeting. She seemed to be grunting pain.

I heard Snowflake whimper, and I reached down, scratching her neck. "It's okay, Snowflake. We're just… taking a small break."

Laughter broke the growing silence, echoing laughter up in the sky. "One still remains?" A voice echoed through the air. "And of course… it's the gnome."

I reached for my crossbow. "Are you friend?"

"Not yours." The voice said back.

I heard creaking in the distance. Even through the thick white smoke, I could see the trees moving.

"Be a good halfling and stay still until it's all over." The voice echoed.

…

[Erwin]

It was feint… but it was there. The whispers of an illusion. It took me a few minutes to recognize it, but it was there… whispered over the countless calls of Kara. I just had to focus… and… draw in my strength… and repulse this fog.

I collected my energy, and with a loud scream, blasted the wind away with a bit of my Druidcraft, creating a wind that blew the wind away from me. I had a few seconds to get the lay of the land. Lil-Gem was on her wolf, aiming her crossbow into the trees. And the trees were moving towards us.

Okay… I have all the information I need now. I reached across my back, pulling out my staff.

"Oh, trust me, Erwin… the Elder Gleam Forest is very safe. I'm a human; I know stuff like haunted woods…" I mocked Kara's voice as I readied my spells. I called out to the sky, calling any and all birds to my side. Birds of all species called to me through the trees, all coming around to circle around me.

"Bird allies, here my call!" I screamed to the birds. "Protect my friends!"

The birds went off on the trees, all while I turned to Kurohana. She's innocent in all this. I'm saving her first. If Kara dies… oh well. This is her fault anyway.

I walked up to Kurohana, shaking her. "Kurohana. Snap out of it." I touched my finger to her head. "Kurohana… you should be able to hear me."

…

[Kurohana]

"Focus your mana. And then blast it out. Dispel the fog from your mind!"

Erwin's voice was coming in loud and clear. The ghosts in the fog were relentless, coming at me continuously. But, at least I now had an answer. I was trapped in a mind game. And as I figured it out… I could feel the pull on my mind. The fog trapping me inside my own thoughts. Okay… I've learned how to break out of this stuff. Time for me to break free.

I took a deep breath, preparing to break free from this mental prison, but right as I collected my thoughts, I was slapped by one of the ghosts. It hit me hard enough that I fell from my feet. The fog ghosts fell atop of me, scratching me mercilessly. I had no time to concentrate on breaking free. I first had to fight off this horde.

…

[Kara]

I spat out blood, clutching my side. My pulled my hand away, looking at my hand covered in my blood. Ivor… he stabbed me. He actually stabbed me.

"You never wear armor. Just that leather shirt. You should know better by now." Ivor glared at me, placing his greatsword at my neck. "You were never my equal."

I sighed. "Brother… you should know by now. When you have the chance to finish your enemy… you don't give them a chance to talk…"

While I was distracting him by talking, I was reaching into my back pouch, pulling out a handful of spice. I threw my arm out, blasting his face with the fiery flakes of the hottest pepper found in Illuska: the novapenyo pepper. It burns everything, even my hand clutching the pepper's dust.

I quickly closed my eyes, rolling away as I threw the dust in front of me. My side screamed out in pain as I forced it to move, but I couldn't allow myself to be near Ivor's area of sword arch, and I couldn't let myself breath in that awful dust.

Ivor screamed out in horror, reaching up to his eyes with his free arm. He swung his sword wildly, trying his best to hit me. I wasn't even near him by now.

I took this second to put a small gauze on my side, slathered in healing ointment. I held it there for a few seconds, letting the ointment settle on my wound. The blood had soaked through my undershirt and my pants. Great… that's going to stain. More to the point… my brother's being an ass.

I stood up, or tried to. My left side wasn't supporting me at the moment. "So, tell me, brother. Why now? Why here?"

Ivor was still rubbing his eyes, but he was now focusing on my voice.

"Father is alive." Ivor calmly turned to face me. "I don't need you anymore. You're a liability. If I let you continue on like this… you'll get me and dad killed. This is for the good of our army, Kara. For Damara… you have to die."

I spat out more blood, readying my dagger. "Really?" That didn't sound like him. There was something off about him. This wasn't my brother. He never talked to me like this. Everything up to this point had been supportive. He helped me form this resistance. He helped form this plan to save dad. He was as much part of this movement as I was.

"So tell me, brother. What comes next?" I grit my teeth as I rolled away, taking a new spot. Ivor brought his greatsword down on where I last sat.

"What comes next?" He laughed. "We take back Damara without you holding us back."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't know who you are… but you're not Ivor."

Ivor turned to look at me, his eyes glowing blue. "Oh?" He smirked. "I see I've been found out." Ivor's form dissipated into fog, and a blue fire sprang from his form. A fox stood in his spot, orange-furred, amber-eyed. He's a kitsune.

…

I should have known.

This was an illusion!

I looked down at my hand; the blood that covered it was suddenly gone. I found myself laughing, pushing myself up onto my feet. "Oh… you're good. You're… powerful. Convincing. You even read my mind." I looked at the kitsune. "But you didn't know a little something about me, kitsune. I've trained with one of your kind. And she taught me how to do this…"

I took in a deep breath, focusing my chi. Time to wake up.

…

[Sebastian]

The tiny gnome was doing what she could to protect the cat human and the rogue human. She was running around on her wolf, dodging treants' attacks. The elf was doing his part as well. He had somehow summoned birds to his aid… the birds of my forest. I hoped the treants wouldn't do them any harm; they are only acting against their will. With the ravens flying around distracting the treants, he was turning his attention to the cat human, trying his best to wake her up.

I heard a loud scream; it was coming from the actual human. She had broken from my trance. Great… all but one. And she was looking right up at me. And she looked angry. I have no idea what she saw, but whatever it was she saw, it made her very angry. But luckily, she was on her own. The treants had ignored the ravens pecking at them and were now wrapping up the cat human, the pointy human, and the half elf. The three sub-humans were wrapped up in the branches of the treants. And now… we can begin finishing this.

I hopped down from the tree, landing in front of the human. "You're all that's left."

The human put up her daggers. "We just want to pass through to Damara."

"No one passes through my forest." I replied. I brought up my tonfa. "Especially humans and gnomes."

"I don't want to fight you." The human replied.

"Then you shouldn't have come here." I muttered back.

There was a loud scream; the pointy human had surrounded himself in fire, managing to get the treant to release him from his grasp. That brought a snarl to my lips. Great… two of them. And just like I thought, this pointy-eared human was also a magick user. Wait… magick user? Since when do humans from Illuska practice magick?

"Great forest spirits, I call upon your aid. Lend me the help of wildlife to aid me defend my own from this assaulter." The pointy-eared human spoke in fae. The human speaks fae… and he calls on nature. And he works magick.

I held my tonfa steady, but my head was spinning. The rogue human didn't want to fight… and she wasn't making a move towards me. The words my father spoke to me were once again spinning in my head. I had to know.

"What is your purpose here?" I asked, keeping my guard up.

The pointy-eared human walked up first. "We're on our way to Damara. We're just passing through. We mean no harm."

"You work magick. You… worship nature?" I looked to the paled skinny human. His eyes looked Shouen. I could see some scales under his eyes. Shouen are… not allies, but not enemies. And they work magick like it's second nature. This other human though… I don't know what she is. She's not Shouen. And the cat… person… wait… if I'm what the humans call a fox-folk… perhaps she's a cat-folk. Weird. Never met one. Wonder if I'm right about that.

The human nodded. "I'm an elf. We all worship nature. We worship Gaia, the mother of nature. And I am a Druid, a practitioner who taps into Gaia's power, asking for her aid in combat to protect her domain."

An elf… I heard about those. I thought they were extinct. I haven't met one.

I pointed over to the cat-folk. "And she's?"

The cat-folk, still in her trance, stared blankly at me. I decided to let her out of her trance. She snapped out of it in a hurry, stepping forward, screaming, "I've been getting my ass handed to me… for the last 30 minutes!" She glared right at me, grabbed my gi and pulled me right up to her. "You ever… do that to me again… and I'll show you what you made me live through."

I held up my hands, pleading with the cat-folk. "I am sorry. I was defending my forest. But my question remains. Why are you trespassing?"

The human lowered her dagger. "We're on our way to Damara to recruit some mages. There's a Mage Circle Tower on the other side of the mountain to the north, and this was the quickest way there. My reports indicate that a Damaran army of Paladins are marching up to the Tower in hopes of destroying the last bit of free mages in Damara. I was hoping to help them escape before that army arrives."

"You… you never mentioned that." The elf said.

The human glanced back at him. "I was hoping we'd get in and out without it being a problem."

"An army of Paladins…" The Cat-folk looked to the human… "And we're just four?"

The human shrugged. "And a full tower of mages… hopefully."

So… these people were on their way to defend other people like them? I… I was at a loss. "Why are you helping mages?"

"We're hoping to build an army." The elf said.

"It's also the right thing to do." The Cat-folk replied.

"We're just trying to help some people and in the process hopefully gain some allies in the fight to come." The human replied. "My homeland, Damara, has been taken over by an oppressive overlord. He's murdered countless people who were born with the gift of magick, just as the Illuskans do. I've learned that Illuska and Damara might be working together… and it has my father worried. And if he's worried… I'm worried. And so I'm rounding up people for the war to come. If nothing else, it will help the last free mages of Damara be free from their prison."

They were doing a good thing. And… what dad told me… it was still making its rounds in my head. "I will lead you through Elder Gleam. The fog here can get you turned around. And with me… you'll be safe." I bowed to the people. "My name is Sebastian Koorikaze. I am the child of the Chieftain of Taiyomachi."

The human nodded, slightly bowing. "I am Kara Kulenov. Daughter of Ignor Mei Kulenov, Arch Paladin of Damara."

The elf bowed properly. "I am Erwin Dristole, son of Councilor Lucien."

The Cat-folk glanced away. "I'm Kurohana Raksha'na. I don't have parents."

"And I'm Lil-Gem!" The gnome screamed down at me from the treant's branch. It didn't have her wrapped up anymore; she was just swinging on the branch. I still hate gnomes.

I smiled warmly as I bowed again. "It is a pleasure to meet you." At least… I'll try my best to make it a pleasure. At the very least, it might help to learn what's going on around this world.

I looked back at the treants. "Please inform my father I will be traveling. I… made some friends." I smiled as I glanced back at the group I found myself following. "It will be an honor to lead you through Elder Gleam." I just hoped I was doing the right thing. But… if I'm with them, and they turn out to be enemies after all… I'll be in the right spot to attack them.

Cearbhail:

Kurohana: Race: Rakastan. Gender: Cis Female. Kingdom of origin: Turami. Sexuality: Hetero. Religion: Survival. Alignment: What's that? Class: Rogue, Arcane Trickster. Fur color: Panther black, blue star-like flecks, blue runes on shoulder. Eyes: bright blue. Height: 5'7''. Weight: 100. Hobbies: Painting, playing poker, gambling, scavenging supplies.