The Campaign

by War3houz

This is not my story. It belongs to one of my good friends and I'm uploading it here as kind of a surprise to her.

** This is not my story, and I want to make that clear. This story belongs to one of my good friends and I'm hoping it will do really well on here. She isn't very confident in her writing and I'm doing this as kind of a surprise. So hopefully this does well, but all the credit goes to her**

Light laughter.
A cry into darkness.
Small embers licking at the green scales of the crackling claws.
Pain,
Darkness,
Fear. That's all that the young dragon could feel after her unfortunate fate.
But through all of her torture, it is those same emotions that propels her forward.

A once happy child,
Torn from his life with a heartless grasp.
The Goliath knowing nothing else but violence.
Betrayal,
Deceit,
What he once wished was unending love, turned to peril.
His mind clouded with events from the past, he wants to focus towards the future, but can't keep his mind off of what he's missing.

Clashes of metal,
Clatter of a knife.
A beating heart,
A challenge one couldn't help but accept.
Banished,
Bloody,
Broken and twisted from his family tree.
The young elf sent to fend for himself, healing others wounds, but never his own.

Emptiness,
Never loneliness.
But emptiness.
The shine, the glimmer from her newfound entertainment.
It shone her new path,
One that would lead the young gunslinger to her newfound excitement.
Something she's been searching for her whole life.

Quiet,
Nearly silent,
But what isn't spoken says the most for this lost human.
An outcast once accepted,
Now shunned from the clan
Her respect for nature never dwindled,
But her respect for her family sure left.

Mischievous laughter,
A stranger, soon dissipating into darkness.
Never In one place for more than a moment.
His small form,
his alluring voice,
One can't help but be intrigued for the troublesome yet charming gnome.
Yet his quivering voice in the depths of night may be hiding more than seductive words.

He's never been his own.
Born from the product of two halves
Sold as a slave
Bought as a son,
Never to see his own mother after the age of 5.
Being born of convenience
Only bears vengeance and hatred.
And only one would understand his circumstance.

Happiness,
Content,
Joy,
Then darkness.
His family, once for the love for each other,
Now for the hate of alone.
Abandoned is only abandoned when you weren't the one who left.
Friendship is all that he seeks, but it's slipping from his grasp.

We join the party in the vast world of Drainia, a once peaceful and allied entity turned warring and perilous. Our heroes have just began their treacherous journey to the center of the quarreling realms to retrieve the Gem of Rau, a mystical stone said to keep the peace between the territories as long as it is protected. Believing that our travelers can handle the high stakes of this task, General Upseer, first command of the Tasavalta has sent this pack of warriors to protect the Gem from their counterpart, Vastus.
Maxia, the dragonborn sorcerer,
Qaw, the Goliath barbarian,
Genees, the elven cleric,
Shun, the human gunslinger,
Alki, the human Druid,
Glane, the gnomish bard,
Seir, the half-elf ranger,
Kage, the elven rogue,
Are you ready to begin your journey?

"Who is this voice talking out of the sky?"
"That's the narrator Qaw"
"That creature that lives in the swamps? Can I kill it?"
"No Qaw, he's our story teller. He's here to make our story interesting"
"Oh! Oh! I like stories! Let's do this!"
"Ah, yes, let us begin our story."

Wonderful. You begin your travels as you wake up in the mediocre inn in the main land of Kaupunk, the human capital of Tasavalta. The light begins to fill your eyes as your vision clears, clearing the haze from from your sight as you wipe the sleep from your eyes...

"Good morning all!" A peppy voice called as the travelers stepped foot into the grungy hallway.
"Maxia, glad to see you're up and as lively as ever..." A yawn from the smooth voice breaking the natural flow of the sentence.
"Well at least one of us has to be bright and sunny in the morning, right Alki?" The now named voice, Maxia, grinned a toothy grin, her scales a radiant color, the contrast to the rest of the party's mood.
Another yawn breaks loose, this time from the quiet Druid. "Being bright and sunny is for the sun, not for the ones who have to rise before it."
"Aww you guys are no fun!" Maxia pouted, her voice beginning to sound defeated.
"It's okay Maxia, I'm sure they'll wake up when we start to bash some skulls!" A very heavily slurred, almost drunken voice sounded in the quiet hallway.
Maxia laughed, covering her ears slightly. "Thank you Qaw, but please do remember people are sleeping..."
"So keep your voice down, is what she's trying to say." A sharp voice said, rubbing his ears.
"Come on Seir, calm down. It may be early, but I'm glad we can have such a lively group to journey with- wait, that sounds nothing like me... I think the morning is getting to me..."
"Kage, just shut up." The one so called Seir sighs.
"Maybe we should go?" Another asks after a pause.
"I think Genees is right, we didn't rise early to complain after all."
"Yes, I agree with Shun." The same smooth voice from before winks at the gunslinger.
"Of course you do Glane, of course you do." Genees sighed.

You step outside of the inn and into the lightly lit streets of Kein, the capital of the Kaupunk realm. As you start to leave the city, merchants have just began to set up shop, the sun finally starting to rise.

"Guys! Guys! Can we buy some stuff before we go?" Qaw asked, looking around at the freshly set up marketplace.
As if it was a question, Genees pondered this for a moment. "Well we've got quite a ways until the next city, so I don't see why not-"
"Genees come take a look at this!" Maxia called as he finally realized that no one had waited for a response for an answer and had already left to do some shopping without him.
"Guys, what should we get? We don't happen to have too much gold and will probably need some better weapons…" Alki said, looking through this shop's wares, turning over a strangely colored potion in her hand. Maxia quickly takes the potion from her hand and lays it back onto the table, shaking her head.
"Do not touch that…" She said quickly, turning from the colorful flask and to the healing ones.
"Maybe we should get some magic weapons." Kage said, turning to a stall with some arcane imbued tools. Maxia and Genees took a turn into a small potion shop, looking for the red flasks of life, almost necessary for beginning travelers.
"First we should probably get our lower health people some health potions, just for the heat of battle." Genees stated. "I mean, I can heal if need be, but I only get a few spells per day."
"Then maybe you might need this!" Maxia held up a tiara looking thing, a gem in the middle of it. "It gives you 2 extra spells as long as you wear it!"
"And how much is that…" Genees asked as he picked up 3 small health potions and turned to walk towards the scaly being.
"Only 500." Maxia smiles, placing it on his head.
He backs up quickly, removing it from his head with his free hand. "Maxia that is more than half our reserves!"
"Oh, come on! We need to have our healer kitted out so we can live!" She mopes.
"But we also need to give our other party members stuff in case I can't get to them!"
"But Genees…"
"No." He said sternly, placing the tiara like headgear back on the stand and purchasing the small health flasks.
At this very moment, the gnome, Glane, was heading towards the shopkeeper at the same arcana shop.
"It must be a burden, having such a beautiful elf running this shop all by herself." He said to the elven shopkeep, barely being able to be seen from over the counter.
She chuckled. "I'm not as delicate as you might take me to be..."
As the conversation went on, Genees rolled his eyes and put the potions in his bag, taking a step away from the counter. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow whisking by, barely visible. If not for the missing potion where it passed, he would have never thought twice about it.
Then it happened another time, at the other side of the shop. He shook his head, walking to the corner of the shop, and there, hiding in the shadows, there was his only elven companion.
"Kage, what are you doing?" He sighed, watching the cloak rustle in the darkness.
He just heard a shush, then a sigh. "We need supplies, and we're not gonna get it with a measly thousand gold. Do me a favor, distract the shopkeep for me, seems like Glane is striking out."
They took a look over to the bright red gnome with the elven woman patting him on the head, a mischievous smile on her face.
"I can't do that! It's wrong for you to st-" his voice was suddenly cut off by a hand to his face.
"It's only borrowing for the better, I mean, we are the heroes now... Aren't we...?" His last words came out more as a hiss than a question.
Genees pulled away from his grasp. "Fine, fine. As long as you don't make her go out of business..." Kage smiles and nods as he pulls back and farther into the shadows. "I'm going to need to visit the church after this..."
At this reluctant confirmation, Genees walked up to the elven woman, now messing with Glane, laughing at how "adorably short" he was. "I'm sorry about my friend here, the only tall part about him is his ego, and he tends to think he can woo women way above his pay grade..." He chuckled, watching as Kage ran through the shadows behind her.
"I thought he was cute, but I agree. He does seem to be a little bit egotistical." She laughed a little bit, now looking at Genees with a smile.
"Aw come on Genees! This was my idea!" Glane wined, clearly annoyed his job, and prey, was being stolen.
Genees snickered and leant down to his height, a sneer forming on his lips. "I would have let you keep her, but you were terrible at your job. Elven women are a lot harder to impress..." He smiled and patted him on the head, standing up to face the women again.

As this encounter was going on, Maxia and Alki headed outside, meeting Qaw as he ran from shop to shop. It may have been early, but the reason the streets were empty was because of the hopping Goliath, what seemed to be a terrifying circumstance.
The two women sighed at this sight.
"Seir? Where are you?" Maxia called, looking for the familiar figure in the crowd of creatures avoiding the giant creature, their reputation not so well in this city.
The Ranger coughed, taking a step forward. "You called?"
"You were supposed to be watching him!" Maxia groaned.
"I don't recall being assigned to babysitting duty..." He trailed off as the three of them watched the clunky barbarian place a giant pot on his head, the shopkeeper being too terrified to stop him.
"Well we need to stop him somehow! Seir, you got us into this, why don't you get us out!" Maxia spits, walking up to the shopkeeper to comfort him, which didn't help much, dragonborn being feared just as much, if not more than Goliaths.
Seir shakes his head, and, not saying a word, walks up to the shopkeeper and pays him back for the pot.
Alki, quickly getting the hint that Seir wasn't going to fix the whole situation, rushed up to their confused and disoriented friend.
"Qaw!" She stumbles, not exactly knowing how to handle this.
"W-what? Alki?!" He spins around rapidly, almost hitting her. "Alki, you gotta help me! I think I've gone blind!"
She snickered, being able to hear the echoing terror in his voice. She patted his back, growing a vine from the ground and picking the pot from his head. "There, is that better?"
His face had grown from distress to pure glee in such a short time, it was a shock to most of the passerby's. He joyously picked Alki up, the pot clattering to the ground as he wrapped her in his giant arms.
"You saved me! Oh my god are you some kind of Doctor? You can heal just like Genees!" He cried out.
Alki, struggling for breath, coughed a jumbled "it was nothing..." And was soon placed back on the ground, gasping for breath.
Maxia sighed as the streets began to fill again. She picked up the pot and placed it on a strap having from her bag. "Seir, next time, use those eyes for watching instead of pickpocketing…"
"Whatever…" He mumbled, disappearing back into the crowd.

Shun, being the introvert she is, was working in a workshop owned by a local blacksmith. She was working diligently on some armor of a client of the smith.
"Shun, it's really nice having you back home. Are you sure you have to leave so soon?" He said, just watching the twinkle in her eye as she worked.
As he asked this, she lifted the metal off the table and placed it into a pool of water at her feet, the contact giving off a loud sizzle as the final product lost its orange glow and turned into a dusty grey.
"Sorry I couldn't help out more Laaj, but I'm going to have to leave sooner than I was hoping..." She sighed, placing the metal on the desk, Laaj now beginning to wipe it down.
"That wasn't what I was asking and you know it... It's just... It's not like a small town woman like you to go off alone..." He said, staring straight at the breastplate, the dusty grey now turning more metallic with every swipe.
Shun shook her head as she began to unsuit, removing the goggles from her head and her apron from her neck. "I'm not going off alone, I have traveling companions." She said, folding her arms and leaning against the desk Laaj was working at.
"That's not what I meant..." He stopped wiping the armor down and looked straight at her. "Shun I think it's time for me to stop avoiding the subject. I want you to marry my son-"
He couldn't even get the rest of his sentence out before she began to cough. "W-what?!"
He just laughed. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but my son means the world to me, and ever since his mother died, he's needed a strong woman in his life... And you will always be like a daughter to me."
Shun, finally getting over her coughing fit, just stared at him. "I-I don't know what to say... Laaj... I don't know about-"
"You don't have to answer me now. Just make sure you come back home, safe and sound, so I can introduce you two..." He chuckled softly, a small, supportive grin on his face.
Shun just shook her head, the corners of her lips beginning to tweak into a smile. "I'll think about it. I promise I'll make it back."
There was a moment of silence between the two as the situation was left in the air. Soon, Laaj finished wiping down the armor and held it to Shuns chest. "Looks like a perfect fit."
She tilted her head, looking at his giant hands holding the freshly made plates to her body.
"Consider it a gift from me... A good luck charm on your journey."
"Hey wait! I MADE that!" She laughed, turning so she could pull the armor on.
"Consider it payed off..." He chuckles, watching her slide into the fresh creation. As she turns around, he sighs. "It is a perfect fit. I feel like a proud father... Oh, speaking of, have you talked to your family yet? You must have, you've been here for a couple days right?"
At this statement, Shun's complexion darkens. "No, I was hoping you didn't mention my visit to them..."
He shakes his head, the joy fading from his voice. "Shun, you can't avoid them forever..."
"I'm just waiting for the right time-"
"Bullshit. You're avoiding them-"
"Well what else can I do?! Confront them right before I leave?! They'd try and make me stay again, and I have a job now! I can't be halted again..." She trailed off, looking at the ground.
"I know, but they're your family. You can't just get rid of them." He gave a sympathetic shrug.
She nodded slowly. "That's why I'm waiting for the right time."
He sighed. "I guess it's understandable. Just come home safe… no matter what happens, they'll always welcome you back." He wrapped the small girl in his broad arms and squeezed.

After a bit of time, you all meet up and exit the market, heading down the cobbled stone street into the more impoverished district of Kein. Now feeling a little more equipped for your adventure, you step foot into the plains with a newfound confidence. With your journey just beginning, you can't help but feel a strange excitement as you walk through the grassy plain. The first night was nothing. You ran into such minimal encounters, and you had a nice boar as a meal, freshly cut down by Seir. As the night wound down, the group of you fall asleep, full stomachs and warm bodies... But as your night passes by, there was a snap of a branch in the nearby area.

Kage yawned quietly, stretched slightly and sat up. Then the snap came again, a rustle from the grass behind him.
"What was that...?" He asked quietly, shaking his friend next to him. "Seir, get up!" He whispered at him, pulling out his dagger from his belt.
Seir arose quietly, sitting up with a blank look on his face. "What do you want..." He mutters, but at that moment, a blur passed in front of them, aimed at his friend. Barely missing Kage's head, an arrow stuck into the tree behind them. The two quickly stood, Seir picking up his bow.
"Everybody UP!" Kage called, "We're under attack!"
As the group slowly rose to the distressed sound of their friend, Seir swiftly notched an arrow and aimed at the direction the first attack came from, only to have one pierce his shoulder. He pulls back in pain, spinning and firing his arrow from where he was shot. The sound of the crackling bush was evidence enough that he had missed, and he quickly began to pull another arrow from his quiver.
Kage looked blankly into the darkness, taking a step forward. "Why didn't we set someone on guard?" He groaned, taking another step into the darkness, when an illuminating force from behind them lit up the unknown.
The rest of the party squinted as they turned to the dragonborn, a light shining from the top of her staff.
"Since when could you do that, Maxia?" Kage asks, still squinting slightly from such a quick transition for complete darkness to shining rays in a matter of seconds.
"Nevermind that now, Kage, watch out!" Alki almost yells, pulling the Rouge away from another arrow.
"Oh, shit..." Kage mutters. "Thanks Alki." He flashes a quick smile at the Druid.
At that moment there's a quick slice and a sound of a body hitting the ground.
Everyone turned to the noise as Seir takes off running forward, him being the cause of this effect. Though, not much time passes until the whole party surrounds the Ranger, holding his stomach, an arrow protruding from his abdomen.
"Oh, hello there!" Maxia laughs "what was the meaning of attacking our camp like that, out of curiosity?"
The ranger spits at her feet, a mix of saliva and a dark crimson encompassing the grass in front of her.
"Probably just a bandit... Better just take off his head..." Seir mutters.
"Take off his head? Got it!" Qaw laughs, raising his axe, Genees quickly halting this action.
"Hold on, maybe we should interrogate him... Could get some information off of him right?" Genees sputters quickly.
"No harm in trying I guess..." Kage says, starting to clean his friends wound by tugging at the arrow in his back.
Seir growls as the arrow frees from his skin. "Kage, at least try and be gentle..."
"And you try to be careful you ass!" He spits back.
The bantering went on as Genees kneeled down to the coughing, what they assumed was, bandit. "So, now that you're laying here, death looming over you..." He gestures towards the menacing Goliath hovering above him, "do you want to talk?"
"I'd rather die!" He growls, his voice laced with hostility.
"well that can be arranged!" Qaw said as he brought the axe down on the bandits arm.
He cried out in pain as the near severed arm spills out with blood, creating a pool below him. "There... Just hit it again... I have- I have nothing to live for anyways..."
"Wait, what was that...?" Maxia heads over. "Nothing to live for? What's that about?"
"My village... It was... It was overrun with bandits mere days ago. Everyone I have loved or cared about is either dead or a slave to those pieces of scum!" He cries out, bursting into a coughing fit again.
Genees sighed, a smile forming on his face as he places his hand on the distressed villager, a soft glow of Divine energy encompassing his hands and healing the boy's wounds. The villager sat up slightly, very confused. "Wh-what are you doing?" He asked, feeling at his stomach at the absence of a puncture, then quickly reached for his shoulder, feeling the freshly healed, raw and scared arm. "No! No stop! Kill me, please!" He calls, his voice cracking in pain.
Genees looked up and over to Maxia, then Alki. "Maybe we should help him..." He trailed off, sitting back on his foot.
"H-help me? No sir, many upon many travelers have tried to free our town... I don't want to be the cause of another group of deaths..." Even in the dim light of Maxia's staff, the glimmering tears were visible welling up in the young boys eyes.
"Sorry kid, I can't kill you without the say so." Qaw gestured to the grinning Genees facing towards the rest of the group.
"I mean, we need experience, we need hard lessons that can only be learned by battles, so why not?" He asked, excitement lacing his voice.
"Well he said it himself... It could be very dangerous. We don't want to lose anyone right as we start out, right?" Alki asked, worry encompassing her tone.
Maxia shakes her head. "I know we have a choice, but I don't want to leave this poor boy here on his own. And we definitely can't kill him." She finished, Turning towards Qaw and seeing his saddened expression as he finally lowers his axe.
"What's your name, Kid?" Kage asks, finally finishing up with Seir.
The younger kid sighs and wipes his eyes. "Not that it'll matter soon... I'm Edel."
"Nice to meet you Edel-" Maxia starts to extend her arm when Glane jumps in front of her hand.
"Mind if we call you Ed? It's a little less funky than "Edel" and sounds cooler." He laughs.
"About time you woke up Glane..." Shun said from the tree behind them. She took a step forward and extended her hand like Maxia before. "Looks like you're sticking with us for a little while, kid." She smiled warmly down at him.
"Wait, what? I-I'm not going back... Back there..." He trailed off, staring at her hand as if it was a ticket into hell itself.
Shun kept her hand firmly extended. "And miss your town get freed? I don't think that'll look very good for your peers. Think about it, if you're there when everyone is let go of this heartless grasp, you'll be one of the most popular people in the town. You'll get all of the ladies." She laughed, her smile gleaming and her demeanor strong.
He looked up at her, still unsure when Seir spoke up. "Tell me one thing Kid, what do you plan on doing until someone frees your town? This? Would you rather be the town hero, even if there's a chance you'll die trying, or would you rather die nameless and in the dark?" When Edel looked at him, slightly widened eyes, and Seir snickered and continued. "Your choice."
Edel paused, his sight locked on Seir for a moment, then looking down after a beat, and finally looked back up at the smiling face of Shun. He quickly extended his arm towards her and took her outstretched hand.
Shun grinned and pulled him to his feet. "Good choice... Ed"

As you continue the night with your new companion, you fall back asleep and wake up in the morning refreshed and a little groggy. It takes a little longer to get going than usual, but you manage to get on the path to your new friend, Edel's Township. As he leads you there, you start to gather information from him to learn more about the situation...

"So, Ed, what got you into this mess?" Glane asked, kicking at the ground as he walked next to him.
"Well... My small town was a good rest stop on the way to the next main city. You could stop there and stock up on some food, get weapons and armor fixed, a normal small town with home owned businesses. Of course this means that we did get a good amount of travelers every day... Then one day... Pire and his lackeys waltzed in like he owned the place... Of course it didn't take long until he basically did. I was one of the lucky ones. I was able to sneak out during the commotion he caused, but others... Not so much. The smell of burning houses and produce filled the air for days, and the ash spreading into the forest didn't help either."
"So this Pire... He's a real asshole ain't he?" Qaw asked as the air became heavy.
There was a short pause, then laughter from the small kid in their possession. "Yeah, I guess you can say that." Ed says, a smile on his face for the first time the group has met him.
"Do you know how many of his 'lackeys' were there?" Alki asks. "I mean, if we're going up against a small army here... We might need a plan-"
"And a damn good one at that, I don't think we're ready to take on an army of annoyances." Seir snarks as he picks at his bow string.
"All I remember is that when I left, the town was so full of commotion that I couldn't count... Probably around 15 or so. There were a lot..." He mumbled at the end, a mixture of sadness and hatred filling his voice.
Seir stops messing with his bow for a moment, looking down at the kid walking in front of him, and swiftly grabs hold of his shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Edel stopped and turned to him, confusion lacing his eyes. "We'll get rid of them. I promise you..." He says, a small smile forming on his lips. Edel stood there for a second, looking up at the cold and emotionless man in a bit of shock and awe, along with the rest of the group how stopped mid step to witness this freak of nature.
"S-Seir, buddy, are you okay?" Kage asked, feeling the forehead of his friend.
Seir quickly pulled away. "I'm fine, I'm fine... It's just... I don't want him to lose his life... Or at least live this one..."
"Man, Seir has a soft spot for little eddy over here." Glane teased, smacking him on the back, or as high as he can get, seeing as he's about half his height.
"Shut up, just shut up..." He groaned, walking to the woods and disappearing into the trees.
"Wait, where'd he go?" Ed asked, squinting at the direction he disappeared in.
"He'll be back, he gets like this a lot. He runs off to the woods when he wants to be alone, but he'll always be following." Maxia smiles her toothy grin, scaring the boy more than comforting him. Not noticing she pats his back and continues walking up the road.

It takes a long while, and a couple, well, a lot of arguments, you finally make it to a good spot to rest an hour away from Edel's city. Although you have confidence in your abilities, you can still feel the pressure and nerves filling you. And Edel's nervous jittering isn't helping. It soon becomes night, and after you set up a quick makeshift camp, you prepare for your night.

"So who wants to keep watch first?" Maxia asks as she sits against the tree.
"I take it you don't want to?" Glane rolls his eyes.
"I'll take first watch..." Seir mumbles, starting to scale a tree.
"I guess I'll go with him. You guys rest, you can figure out who's going next." Shun said, looking more at Genees than anyone else.
Genees nods, and turns to the rest of the group and begins to send orders.
At this, Shun follows in the direction Seir went. "Seir? Seeeir? Where'd you go?" She started calling, when a thud landed behind her.
"I can do this by myself. Go to sleep." A low voice sounds through the darkening landscape.
"I have no doubt you could... But do you want to?" She asked, leaning against a tree.
Seir paused, then gave a long sigh. "Fine. But if you're going to watch with me, we're doing it my way." He mutters, taking her wrist and pulling her to a giant tree near the camp. He began to ascend the tree, leaving a hesitant Shun at the bottom of the towering trunk. She gave a small whimper and began to clamber up the looming branches when her foot slips and she falls an inch or so. She yelps, and grasps onto any hold she could find, when she could feel her hand being covered by a familiar leather. Shun was suddenly dragged onto a branch next to her, Seir sighing as he pulls off his hood.

Silence.
Neither of the two wanted to speak for the fear of letting their location known, but after a couple of awkward minutes Shun finally got the courage to look at her companion's silhouette. She opened her mouth to speak.
"I don't not trust him you know..." He suddenly says, looking up at Shun.
"What?" She asks, taken aback.
"That's what you were going to ask right? Why don't you trust Ed?"
She shook her head slightly. "Though it was part of it. I wanted to know why you don't open up to anyone as well... You got really close today…"

"I... I um... I'm not exactly good at showing emotions..." He looks around at the ground below, trying to avoid the eyes of the gunslinger next to him.
"Well yeah, I can tell. It's just that... Do you see how Ed acts around you?" She tilts her head.

Seir Looks back to her, confusion now lacing his face "what do you mean?"

"He looks up to you and he barely knows you. You are important to those you know, and those you haven't even met yet, and it still seems like you close off to everyone… Why?" Shun now asks, looking at the ground to hide her face.

Seir took this information in and stared into the sky for a pause, contemplating on how to weave his thoughts into words.

"It seems there's only one of us you really trust… don't you think it would be easier to lay your troubles on more than just Kage?" Shun continued, finally looking back at the ranger next to her.

"I don't want to get close to someone, to just lose them." He muttered, finally looking away from space and back to their surroundings.

"Seir, we're strong, we all are. You won't lose us easily-"

"It's happened before it can happen again."

"But it won't and-"

"Can you prove it? Can you promise me that you won't die on me if I told you my story. Can you promise that both of us will make it out alive from this journey, can you?" Seir almost yelled.

Shun fell silent at his words. "I can't promise…"

"That's my point-"

"But I can make a pact. I'll try my best to not die, and to keep everyone else alive, if and only if you open up to us every once in awhile…"

Seir sat there, partly in shock, partly in consideration of whether to take this agreement.

"You don't have to decide now…" Shun said, wobbling as she crawled to the stump of the tree to climb down. "Just think about it…"

And with that she disappeared into the darkness below.

Seir sat there for a moment, replaying the conversation in his head. "What the hell does that mean…?" He sighed, placing his head in his hands. After a short pause he slid down the trunk of the tree, waking Kage for his watch next.

You awake the next morning slowly, not with sleep but nerves. Your first real battle ahead of you, your actions are taken with the thoughts of possible outcomes. A cocktail of excitement and worry mixing in all bodies, the silence is still and unbroken until…

"We never got a plan did we…" Alki said, freezing while she puts out the embers of the fire last night.
The rest of the party stopped in the middle of packing, and Glane sighed. "Ummm… Do we need one…?-"
"Of course we need one!" Maxia counters. "It's kind of a large group of armored individuals that can kill us all of we're not careful."
Glane rolls his eyes. "I mean, I was joking. But seriously, we're decently strong."
"That doesn't mean we can just waltz in with the current numbers we have Glane."
"Yeah, I agree with Maxia. We need a plan, and a good one." Kage pipes up.
"These people aren't exactly a hive mind, so even if we take out the leader the rest of them will still retaliate. So we have to think about this rationally." Genees starts. "Our spells aren't that strong, so we're going to have to rely on our warrior and Rangers. While they begin to pick off the herd, I think Kage can sneak around and sneak attack the leader. While the rest of us spell users can keep you guys alive and give you support so no one can get to you."
"You said Rangers..." Seir looks at Genees, "who else are you talking about."
Genees tilts his head. "Ed, why?"
"We can't put Ed in this! What are you thinking?!" Seir asks, worry now forming. He looks around his party, shock forming on their faces. Seir cleared his throat. "I can handle them alone. I don't want Ed to be a part of this."
"As much as we trust your skills Seir, you can't take all of those brutes-" Genees starts but quickly gets cut off by the person of the topic.
"I can do this. I want to help." Ed says, his eyes set on the much taller figure of Seir. At the same moment, Seir's eyes soften and he gives a sigh.
"Just want to be a hero don't you... You know I'll never forgive you filling you die right?" He shakes his head as he ruffles the young Rangers hair.
Ed laughed. "I'll be fine. I promise."
"Now that that bro moment is over, can we start this?" Kage rolls his eyes.
Seir shakes his head. "So are we attacking the group or picking them off with part of a distraction?"
Genees rubs his chin. "Glane, think you can pull off a distraction?"
Glane's face lights up. "I can, Alki, do you wish to join me? I can't run very fast, so you can get me out right?"
Alki laughs, "of course I can, let's go."
The party looks at Ed. "Are you ready?" Shun asks, a smile forming on her face. "You're about to become the hero of your town."
Ed looks at the group of them, tears welling in his eyes. "So many people have tried to help my little town, and so many have failed... But for some reason I can tell this time is different..."

Glane takes a step forward into the city, which if they weren't told differently, they would assume was a ghost town. Fires crackled in buildings, small plumes of smoke rising and dissipating into the surrounding air. He took another step in the soot and rubble of the surrounding town, then another until he could see movement in the corner of his eyes. Seir and Ed scaled a building, crawling on top of the flattened roof, while Shun stumbled up another one with Maxia. Kage followed Qaw down through an alleyway and hid in the shadows next to an opening on the Main Street, Genees across from them. Alki took a deep breath and crouched down, a shimmer of mist surrounding her as her form transformed into the shape of a large wolf. She sidled up to Glane and rubbed against his hand. Glane looked down with a smirk. "I think everyone is ready-"

"Oy. What brings you here traveler?" Glane looked up at the mysterious voice, a large man standing around 60 feet in front of him.

"I heard this was a nice trade town, looks like it has been… For lack of a better word, destroyed…" Glane said, taking his hand off of the wolf next to him and gesturing around him.

The man snickered. "Very smart, little man. You look like you're pretty well off, how's about giving our little town a pick me up?" He asked, drawing a blade from his side.

Glane chuckled, lifting a hand as arcane sigils began to shine in the air around him. "You know, I think i'll be greedy." And with that, a ball of flame formed in his hand, and shot forward through the shimmering characters in front of him, exploding in front of him, flames enveloping the man and destroying a few nearby buildings. As the flames dulled to a flicker, the man who had fallen, hunched over, started to laugh in the crackling of the fire surrounding him. He stood, a small limp visible from Glanes view.

"Nice work, little guy, but it's going to take a lot more than that!" And with that he whistled, a group of bandits appearing behind him and he gestured forward. "Take that gnome out!"

The bandits began their charge, and as Glane was pulled on top of the wolf and whisked back to a safer distance, arrows were shot and guns were fired. From the party's view, there were 6 bandits and 1 leader, 6 of which had a long sword, and one bandit brandished a dagger, and disappeared into an alley almost immediately.

It was bloody, and the fight had just begun. Multiple bullet holes and arrow knicks were made in the leader who still stood strong. Glane retreated, and the bandits who had followed had begun to realize the ambush far too late and fell into another fireball, this time sent by Maxia.

The fire had cleared once again, leaving many of the bandits coughing and fried, but still standing. Qaw stepped out of the alley brandishing his great axe, an evil grin curling across his face.

"Which one of you kitties wanna play?"

He then immediately slams his axe into the nearest bandit, drawing a line down his chest and causing blood to pool like drool down his face. He swings again, creating an X on the bandits now limp and fallen body, as the multiple other bandits looked at their now eviscerated comrade. Qaw looks from the body, his eyes red and burning, his grin ever growing on his face. "Who's next?"

Bodies continued to fall, blood pooled into the dusty road, creating a rust colored mud. 2 bandits still standing in combat with Qaw, and now Alki as a wolf. The next two bodies fell as an arrow protruded out of the chest of one, and the throat of the other hung from Alki's jaw. Genees held his holy symbol and laid a hand on the battered Qaw, his wounds immediately healing.

Ed sighed, pulling another arrow from his quiver. "How many more are there?"

"Just 2, then you'll have saved your town." Seir says, aiming his bow at the leader "Hold on just a little longer Ed… Ed?" He tilts his head backwards to look at the boy, for him to no longer be in sight. "ED-?!"

"ED!" Shun called from across the way, causing all faces to turn towards the bandit leader. At his side stood the rouge and their new companion, a dagger to his back and a sword to his neck. Genees stepped up as Ed gulped, pulling his neck away from the blade as much as possible.

"Ed… let him go!" He called out, as the leader pushed the blade further into his neck, blood beginning to stream.

The leaders blood steamed face, insane panic in his eyes, morphed into a maniacal laugh. "I knew I recognized you, you were the kid that escaped. I was waiting for you to come back home to the slaughter. I didn't expect you to bring company though, our little playthings were a little more rough than we thought. I think it's time for us to end this once and for all…" he cackled loudly as Ed cried out, the dagger on his back plunging into his skin, slowly and painfully. The leader's insane eyes shone as he pulled the blade back, but as he did, a blade sank into his shoulder causing his arm to recoil and his swipe to miss. A short second later, the rogue had fallen with a cloaked figure standing behind the now kneeling and coughing ranger.

The leader grabbed his shoulder, pulling the dagger out of his arm and throwing it into the mud to his side, his grin turning to a scowl. He immediately took his arm, throwing the now recognized figure as Kage to the ground, and taking his sword and swinging down at Ed's body.

It felt like slow motion as the blade landed on his back, the slicing sound heard many times before in the battle, now much more morbid as his body fell limp on the ground.

As the weight of this sank in, the party standing speechless in their areas, an arrow immediately landed in the stomach of the leader. As he doubled over, another arrow landed in his chest, then another in his temple.

As the bandit leader fell limp, Seir let loose more arrows, covering him like spines. As he began to notch another one, his hand is stopped by Shun's.

"Seir… I know… calm down…" she said, taking his arm away from his quiver, and leaving it at his side.

At this, he dropped his bow and fell to his knees, tears starting to streak down his face. "GENEES WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! DO SOMETHING!"

He looks up at the ranger, then quickly makes his way towards the fallen figures and Kage who had rose and is holding the body of the villager in his lap. "Genees, I… I don't know what to do. I couldn't stop it, I-"

"Kage, you did fine, calm down and hold him still." Genees rushes, grasping his holy symbol so hard his knuckles are turning white. He begins to mutter under his breath, a prayer, and as he begins to speak his body begins to glow a bright white. He moves one hand over Ed, the white light enveloping his body and his wounds beginning to sew together. Genees' light fades slowly as he releases his symbol, breathing heavily and letting his arms fall limp to his side.

Everyone sat motionless in this sight, eyes nailed to the still lifeless body of Edel, their new companion, and after what felt like a minute, they were sure it hadn't worked. Seir's tear streaked eyes fell to the ground as Shun tapped his back.

"Seir… look up…"

He pauses a moment, blinking a little in disbelief, when he lifts his head back to the young boy's body.

To see his chest lifting and falling.

Seir's breath catches in the back of his throat as Kage gives a sigh of relief, holding Ed's head. Genees lays a hand on his chest.

"Thank you…" he says, grabbing his pendant and looking towards the sky. "Thank you."

Near this point in time, beaten and cowering villagers have started to drift from their homes, and although few, there were enough to recognize the fallen figure.

"Edel?" A old and frail female voice asked from the doorway of a small house. "Oh my… my… my baby…"

The party looks toward the origin of the voice to see an elderly woman, scars and burns scattered around her body. Her grey hair covered in soot and dirt, her clothes were tattered and barely holding together. She quickly rushed forward, brittle movements but fast for her age, to her son. She placed both of her hands on his chest and searched for a heartbeat, and when she found it she sighed a sigh of relief.

"Ma'am… i'm so sorry-" Genees began, then the mother looked up to him.

"Thank you… for taking care of my son…" she said, tears streaming down her face.

"Yes… yes ma'am." Genees said, a small smile forming on his face.

Qaw had taken the sleeping body of Ed into his mother's house and had laid him on her bed as the rest of the party had sat in the remains of the kitchen with his mother.

"I apologize, I don't have any refreshments… until lately i've been more worried about surviving-" she starts, pulling up logs and nearly broken chairs.

"We assure you it's fine, we're sorry for the inconvenience." Genees says, lowering his head to her.

"You just saved our town, and you brought my son home. Hardly an inconvenience." She smiles, brushing her hair from her face, a few coughs escaping her lips. "Take a seat everyone, i'm sure you all had a hard fight."

"Yes ma'am, thank you." Shun smiled, taking a seat in one of the chairs with the other party members. "So how long has… Pire was it? How long has he been here?"

"Oh quite a while… been really hard living here under these conditions… many groups have come here trying to get rid of him, but none had been able to finish the job." She says, pain forming in her eyes. "I didn't even believe my son has been alive for the past months, thought he had perished like the rest… thank you again for bringing him home."

"Just doing the right thing." Kage said with a smile. "He was integral to the fight, a strong boy you raised."

She laughed, looking past the group and to the bedroom "yes, I know."

The night passed quickly and the party had taken shelter in a nearby house for the night, halfway through though, Shun awoke to a slight shuffling nearby. She rose amongst the rest of her resting party, minus one who had just disappeared into the street. She followed slowly and quietly as he entered Edel's home.

She stood outside the doorway for a moment, biding her time until she was safe to step inside.

A second passed.

Then another...

Then another…

Then she stepped into the house, moving into the door and creeping around to the bedroom on her right. She leaned into the door frame to see Seir leaning with his elbows on the bed frame and his face in his hands. It wasn't noticeable at first glance, but in the soft moonlight Shun could see glints fall from Seirs face and into a small pool on the floor.

She frowned a little, shifting her weight to her other foot when he sat up straight and wiped his eyes. Shun cursed silently and pulled back from the frame, hiding herself flat on the wall. She slowed her breathing, although she felt her pounding heart beat would give her away. She stayed there for a moment, her eyes closed and her chest slowly moving, and when she felt she was safe she turned her head and opened her eyes.

Inches in front of her face there was Seirs.

She took a step back opening her mouth to shout instinctually, but he caught her waist covering her mouth with his other hand and bringing her to his chest. She quickly locked up, her body becoming ice cold before Seirs body heat surrounded her. He looked behind her, outside the door and the window and gave a small sigh of relief.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, still holding her to his chest.

She began to speak, her mouth vibrating against his hand in a muffled speech.

He rolled his eyes and sighed again, releasing her from his grasp.

"-go of me… thank you…" she mutters, pushing away from him. "What was that for?!" She whispered, clearly irritated and slightly embarrassed.

"Was making sure we weren't being watched… don't think too much about it." He shakes his head. "Now answer my question."

Shun sighed, leaning against the wall. "I saw you leave, wanted to know what you were up to this late. So I followed you."

Seir looked away for a second, momentary shock filling his mind as she could follow him without knowing, then he turned back.

"You have taught me one thing-"

"Go back to bed" he cuts her off, stepping back into the bedroom, before Shun grabbed his wrist.

"I'm sorry…" she mutters.

"What?"

"I'm sorry… I made a pact and I didn't hold up my end very well… i'm sorry for not doing my job…" she said, slowly letting his wrist fall from her grasp.

Seir paused for a second, then sighed, pulling her into a small hug. "You're doing fine…" he mumbled then took a step back, releasing her. "Seriously go to bed. You need sleep or else you'll be exhausted tomorrow."

She laughed a little. "The same goes for you. I know Rangers are always up, but sleep is in order for the both of us after that fight."

He cracks a small smile. "I'll be back in a little bit… don't wait up for me."

And with that, Shun stepped back and left to go back to the house.

Seir sighed, watching her through the window to make sure she got back safely, then turned to see a smirking Ed, leaning against the doorway.

He shook his head, the smile quickly disappearing from his face. "I suppose you heard most of that?"

"Oh Shun, what are you doing here, Shun you should be asleep. Shun, you're so adorable in the moonlight I can't help but watch you leave-"

"Hey wait, I didn't say that last part." He laughed, stepping up to the younger ranger and ruffling his hair. "Good to see you're feeling better kid."

He laughed and fixed his hair back into place. "Thanks to Genees, sorry to let you down Seir-" he blushed, looking at the ground.

"You did nothing if the sort. I'm just sad you missed the rest of the battle. We got to meet your mom-"

"My mom's still alive?" His eyes widen slightly, then rest as a small smile reforms on his lips. "That's great…"

"Yeah, but we can continue this tomorrow… for now get some sleep… it's not fun when you get serious wounds and you need all the rest you can get." Seir says, patting his head once again.

Ed moves his hand off of his head and laughs. "You're telling me… goodnight then."

"Night." Seir smiles, then leaves the house, but before he can step back inside the camp the party had made, he leaned against the wall of the abandoned house and covered his eyes with his forearm.

"I can't let this happen to any of us again… not h-…" he stopped "none of them…"

Then he stepped into the building.

The next day, you awake battered and sore, but adrenaline from your first victory is still rushing in your veins. The town awoke early, the city already beginning their clean up. Extra bandits had already been evacuated the night before, and their quarters were being cleaned, the townsfolk discovering some gold and treasures they were willing to share with you. Soon after you awake, you join the small population for breakfast with what little food they have, almost as if they are throwing a feast in your name. During the meal, though, you missed the 2 people you knew. Edel and his mother hadn't shown up all morning. You stop in after you said your goodbyes to the townsfolk to see Ed's Mom asleep next to Ed's bed while Ed laid there, watching her…

He turned as the party walked, and gave a weak smile. "Hah… I guess she came in here last night…" his sight going back to her, his eyes becoming teary.

Just as he sniffs, Qaw runs forward picking up the tiny ranger in a big hug, causing Ed to gasp for air. "He's okay!"

"He won't be if you don't put him down!" Alki panics, running up to the Goliath.

During this scene, while the the rest of the crew is laughing, a chuckle comes from the other side of the bed. The room goes quiet as the party looks over to the now awake mother, sitting up in a chair. She smiles. "I guess you all got pretty close… i'm glad my baby made some friends."

Ed was sat back down on the bed, and after a glance to the rest of the party, he looks back at his mom with a soft smile. "I guess we have… I missed you so much." And with that the two enter into an embrace.

After a long moment, Eds mom finally pulls away looking towards the party. "I assume you would like to take him now?"

"Mom! You can't say that-" Ed starts when Genees cuts him off.

"If it's alright with you ma'am." He says, bowing his head towards her.

"Wait, what? Genees?" Ed asks looking at the Priest, confused and conflicted, then to the rest of the party's smiling faces. "Guys?"

Ed's mom chuckles "it wouldn't be a burden? I'm sure you guys know how hard it is to deal with him by now."

The group laughs, when Kage pipes up. "All in what we do. It would be a pleasure to have him tag along."

"That is… if he wants to." Seir says, looking at the shocked ranger in front of him.

"I… I…" his eyes start to tear up, then he nods with a grin. "Of course!"

The group smiles, laughing, when Ed's mom goes into a coughing fit. At first it didn't seem like much of a problem, but when it continued for a while the room went silent.

"Mom?" Ed asked, his eyes now concerned. "Are you okay?"

She nods, breathing heavily and speaking through coughs. "I'm… i'm fine…" another loud couple of coughs erupt from her throat. "I think the ashes have… have been irritating me lately…"

Ed pauses in thought for a second, then looks back at the group, mainly at Seir. "Of course I'd like to join you guys… but right now I think i'll get reacquainted to my home…"

Seir gives a small smile as he says that, and drags the ranger into a tight hug. "Make me proud little guy… We'll be back here on our way back." He laughs, rustling Ed's hair.

"That or I catch up with you." He snickers, smoothing out his hair.

"Ed you really don't have to-" his mom starts, but he cuts her off, turning around and grinning.

"It's alright mom, I missed home. Someone has to be here to protect the town!" Ed grins.

Ed's mother sighs, but looks up with a smile. "You've always been so stubborn… what am I going to do with you?"

Ed shakes his head and helps his mom up from her chair, wrapping her into a big hug. " I missed you so much mom…"

"I missed you too, my little baby…" she says, then pulls away to look back at the party. "I can never thank you all enough. You saved our town and you brought back my son. If there is anything we can do to thank you, tell me and i'll try to help in any way possible." She says bowing her head to the group, Ed following suit.

Genees quickly shakes his head. "We don't deserve all of this praise ma'am, as we said before, this is just our job."

"But if you didn't mind pointing us in the right direction to the next town, that would be great." Glane injects.

The rest of the party glares at him partly, but the mother chuckles. "Of course. This way." She steps out of the house and leads the part to the far side of the town, opposite of where they came in, and pointed down a path and into a heavily wooded area. "It seems that the forest leads to another rest town when you pass through it. It usually takes a good 2 days on foot, so you'd better have the supplies. It also tends to be a bit treacherous, so be careful."

"I'm sure you guys will be fine." Ed shakes his head. "I'm gonna miss you guys, but seems i'm needed elsewhere for the time being. Come back for me when you can, i'll be glad to join your fight."

"Just don't die next time, you hear?" Seir smirks, and the group heads off down the road.

The party stands on the outskirts of the forest, taking in the sheer mass of it. No clear path leading through it, trees surrounding their every step, and treetops covering the canopy so much so that at midday it was dark and musty. They started their trek through the near rainforest, painfully slow, and soon gave up hope that they could move any further in a day.

"Guys…?" Huffs Maxia. "I think we need to stop for the… for the night…"

Glane sits down on a stump. "For once, I agree with the dragon…"

The party stops, many leaning against trees, others flat on the floor. Shun takes a deep breath then exhales in a sigh.

"Well… who wants to find firewood with me…?" She kicks at a splintered log at her feet to see it fall apart. Rotted to the core.

Alki groans a little, then nods. "Okay, i'll help. We'll be back in a little while. You guys start setting up camp."

"Mind if I join you guys as well?" Maxia asks, standing up from her tree.

"Sure." Alki says. "Girl time is always fun."

"Maybe we can catch some food as well." Shun chuckles.

The group laughs as they walk off in a direction, further into the words, leaving only the guys to start setting up.

Genees pauses, and after a moment sits up and takes off his pack. "Okay let's decide if we're attempting to sleep in the trees or on the ground. Because this stuff is disgusting, I vote tree."

"Do you really think Qaw will fit in a tree?" Glane asks.

The group looks over at the Goliath chasing a rabbit down its hole. "I honestly think he'll be fine down here…" Genees states, a sigh escaping his lips.

Sier chuckles a bit. "Might be a bit of a pain getting everyone up into a tree, but I guess it would be the easiest choice. Kage what do you… Kage?"

The group already looks up at him, perched on a branch, looking out in the direction the girls went. "I don't trust this place…"

"What do you mean? It's just a forest. Like the hundreds we've been in before…" Seir tilts his head, a bit of worry crossing his face.

"Something seems off here… it doesn't feel like a normal forest…" Kage continues, straining his eyes as he looks around the distance of the woods. "Something is not natural."

"You're being paranoid dude. It's a forest, it's all natural." Glance shakes his head. "If you're just so worried about the girls, go with them." He snickers.

Kage shakes his head. "Whatever, let's just… set up I guess…"

Time went by as the men began setting up a rough camp, studying trees and cleaning up the ground. As the guys had begun the outline of the camp, the girls had been searching for firewood, wandering further and further from their party.

"So Maxia, what's up with you and Glane?" Alki asks as she picks up a twig and holds it in her arms.

Maxia tilts her head. "What do you mean?" She asks, looking out into the distance, keeping watch.

"He seems like he has something against you. Have you not noticed?" She laughs.

"Really?" She asks, turning around to the laughing Druid. "No, I haven't… what makes you say that?"

"I dunno, he just seems to constantly snap at you and only you." She shrugs. "I was wondering what you had done to get on his bad side. Shun, you've noticed too, right?"

Alki asks, looking up in the trees where Shun had settled herself and was carving away at some loose branches. She looks down in confusion. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Really Shun? We can't have girl talk when you're not paying attention." Alki laughs.

Shun shakes her head, stumbling down the tree and hopping into a patch of grass. "Sorry. Here's some more…" she says, handing the Druid some more wood.

Maxia sighs "this isn't working too well. We'll not even be back by dark at this rate."

"Not like we can help it… all of the wood is rotted to the core. And I am not chopping down a tree." Alki says, readjusting the sticks in her arms. "I guess this'll be okay for a little while. Let's head back and pick up anything else we can find. It's starting to feel really weird here…" she shivers, looking around a little.

It wasn't mentioned before, but as the sun set the three had been getting a shiver up their spines. It wasn't a cold kind of shiver, more like when a cat would start arching their back when they feel they're in danger. What they didn't understand was why they felt that way. They started walking back to the camp they had left their group at, and the feeling started to dim slightly.

Alki, at this, paused and turned around eyeing up the area they were just foraging at "Shun I think there's something wrong…"

Shun nods, not turning around and continuing to walk. "We should hurry…"

Alki nods and turns back when a strangled yelp escapes her throat. With this she is lifted by some sort of tree like creature while twigs began to bury themselves in her skin.

Shun and Maxia immediately turn to the grappled Druid.

"Alki!" Maxia yell, sprinting up to the arm grasping the human and casting fireball on the farther side of the arm to avoid splash damage to the two females. The tree being pulled backwards at this impact and dropped Alki to the ground, her form hitting the ground with a loud thud. She rose to her feet and pulled back, leaning her weight against another tree as she began to cast a spell on herself, hardening her skin to a bark like substance.

Just as this finishes, Shun runs in front of Alki and shoots her gun into the tree, pushing it further back from the three of them.

It wasn't long until the explosions were heard across the entire forest and the Kage's suspicions were confirmed.

The group automatically rises from their various tasks and looks towards the Rogue. Kage looks around at the group, eyes widening, then sprints off towards the sound, the rest soon following.

It didn't take long for the guys to arrive, but in that time, Alki had entangled the creature, even in her weakened state, and Shun had taken a few hits and was kneeling between Alki and Maxia, who was doing her best to chip away at the masters health with various lightning bolts, magic missiles, and acid splashes. It looked weak but as the men arrived on scene it broke free of its restraint, automatically targeting the dragonborn and lifting her.

Glane in a visible state of distress casted a fireball in the same place as Maxia had earlier and the creature dropped the dragon to the ground. Maxis cried out slightly but rose to a knee. Genees immediately runs to Alki and Shun and casts cure wounds on the both of them, then pulls back to avoid the brunt of damage from the monster. Then finally, Qaw rushes into battle, taking his axe and slamming it into the bottom of the beast, chopping into it like it was an inanimate tree.

The creature stumbles backwards, it's pain visibly showing now and it takes a pause to look at the party, then suddenly turns and flees.

"Kage! Seir! Don't let it escape!" Genees says as he runs towards the wounded Maxia.

The two look at each other and nod, then sprint after the animated tree.

Not but 10 seconds later does a large thud sound through the forest and the two Elves return to the group with arms piled high with firewood.

The girls, now properly healed by Genees, look at each other with a part annoyed and part joyful gaze.

"Tha-thank you guys" Shun coughs, rising up from her knee, still in a weakened state.

Seir hands off the wood to Qaw and heads to help her. "No problem… I just wish we had trusted Kage when he first told us something was off…"

"What's good is everyone is safe." Alki says, a smile forming on her face. "Thanks everyone. We would have had a lot more trouble with that on our own…"

"Why were you being so reckless?!" The small gnomish figure yells at a now grinning backwards and kneeling dragonborn. "What the hell were you thinking? You should have stayed back until help arrived, but you have to play the god damn hero!"

"Glane, I was just doing what I could… I don't see why it matters now, we're all sa-" Maxia starts, a small quiver in her voice, but is quickly cut off by Glane.

"But if we hadn't have come!" He growls, leaning forward to her. "You can't do stupid stuff like that, you're gonna get yourself ki...lled…" Glane looks around at the silent party all staring at the bickering two.

"Glane… are you… okay?" Kage asks cautiously as Glanes face turns a dark shade of red.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he mutters, leaving the group with a huff and heading back to the camp.

The rest of the party look at each other for a moment, then to Maxia with the look of pure confusion and pain on her face.

"Umm… what just happened…?" She asks, looking over the rest of the group.

Genees walks over and lifts her to her feet, trying to steady the wounded dragonborn. "I have no clue… but we should probably get back before something else attacks us… mainly Glane…" he says, taking the lead with Maxia back towards the camp.

The whole party makes it back in one piece, more or less, to find Glane already asleep in one of the trees.

"Well that didn't take long…" Kage says, sitting by the rock circle they had formed with Seir and attempting to start a fire.

"How did he even get up there…?" Seir asks quietly, as he begins to arrange the wood to light a simple blaze, then sparks some small twigs and tosses them into the wood pile.

Genees shrugs, setting Maxia down next to the fire. Alki and Shun follow suit and finally relax.

"Oh thank god it's all over!" Alki says, laying backwards.

"I know right… I could defiantly use some rest after that…" Shun mutters, pulling out her gun and looking it over.

"By the way, is your gun okay? It didn't look too good after it misfired…" Alki asked, sitting up on her elbows and watching as Shun tinkered.

"Misfired?" Genees asked as he takes his seat next to the fire.

Shun nods. "Yeah it's fine. The design isn't perfect so sometimes the bullet will get stuck in the barrel and explode without leaving the gun. It's fine though, all I have to do is bend it back in place and clean it out." She says, doing her explanation as it's being told.

The group watches silently, then as it fixes the gazes avert to anything else and they sit in a still silence.