When the doors to the shrine slid shut, the travelers were left suspended in complete darkness for a handful of seconds. H'aanit remained perfectly still, waiting for the shrine to fill with light once more. After a few moments, the torches lining the walls sparked to life, and yellow flames danced in the holders at the top of the steel attachments. The entire entryway of the shrine was cast in a golden glow, and H'aanit couldn't help but find the sensation somewhat familiar. She took in a small breath before pushing it out through her nostrils slowly and carefully. She had no evidence to back up her suspicions, but she already had a feeling she knew which element they were going to be met with at the end of this road.

Ophilia allowed the lanthorn to swing easily at her hip as she stepped toward the shrine's long bridge to the rock carving on the other end. The other travelers were quick to follow, and H'aanit took up the rear with Linde at her feet all the while. The snow leopard offered a small headbutt against H'aanit's hand to try and pull her mistress out of her own thoughts, and H'aanit smiled before starting to stroke at her companion's head. She would have been lying if she said she was feeling any better than she had the day before when the travelers were still debating where to go next, but at least having Linde there always eased her bad moods a little bit.

H'aanit was glad their next destination was set to be Stillsnow. They still had business to take care of in Victors Hollow, especially if there really was a treasure left behind by a pirate the way Cecily had claimed. Afterward, they would chart a course for Duskbarrow to investigate the strange case of two magical markings surrounding the town. When H'aanit said it that way, it all sounded so simple. She only had to endure tow other locations before she could finally ease her grating anxiety and see Susanna about what to do with Redeye's recent activities.

Being in the shrine came with a surprising calmness in H'aanit's system, and she allowed it to rush through her without hesitation. If she was in the shrine, then she didn't need to fear Redeye sneaking up on her when she wasn't paying attention. Nobody knew where the beast had disappeared to as far as she could tell, and she was scared it could end up being the next mission in a tavern without anyone understanding just how dangerous it was. The plant monster she had fought against the previous day had been difficult to win against, and it was nowhere near as powerful as Redeye. She didn't even want to imagine what the beast that had defeated Z'aanta was like.

But as long as she was in the shrine, she was safe. H'aanit knew safety was relative given the group was still preparing for a fight against one of the gods of Orsterra, but she knew whoever was waiting for them had no plans of trying to kill them. After all, the travelers were set to rescue the world from some great evil as far as the gods were concerned, and fighting their own pawns of fate to the death hardly seemed like a good idea. To H'aanit though, a fight lacking in the need for murder was a victory, especially after what she had seen in the forests near Stonegard.

H'aanit was so caught up in her own thoughts about Redeye and the danger he posed that she didn't even notice the travelers had arrived at the other end of the shrine until Olberic stopped from his place in front of her. Ophilia was standing just in front of the stone carving, and she reached out for it slowly before pulling her fingers back. The rock formed the shape of a bow and arrow, and H'aanit's eyes went slightly wide.

All of a sudden, the familiarity from when she had entered the shrine made a lot of sense. This was where they were going to be finding Draefendi, the huntress of the gods. She was the primary deity the people of S'warkii prayed to, and her rules of the hunt were still upheld generations upon generations after she had departed from the mortal plane of Orsterra. H'aanit hardly considered herself the most religious person in the world, but Draefendi was the god she prayed to if she was searching for peace or outside assurance. Previously, she had never thought the gods would intervene to help humans because of their positions in a world beyond that of the mortals, but the last few months of travel had proven otherwise. Even now, H'aanit preferred to offer her thanks to Draefendi above all others.

Part of H'aanit was tempted to offer a prayer to Draefendi then and there in her own shrine. She wanted to ask for Z'aanta's safety, for a way to defeat Redeye, for a method to restore peace to Orsterra. The other gods hadn't been able to offer much information on the subject of the travelers' paths though, and she doubted this would be any different no matter how desperate she was. It was unfortunate, no doubt, but she knew better than to pin too much of her hopes on something she couldn't count on reliably.

"Are we ready?" Ophilia questioned of the travelers. They all shared a series of brief glances to check if anyone was unprepared. When no one said a word of objection against the cleric's inquiry, she nodded and reached out before pressing her gloved hand against the rock before her.

As had come to be tradition, light flooded the area, and H'aanit pressed her eyes closed as the world shifted around her. She only allowed her eyelids to flutter open once more when she was sure the light had faded and her surroundings had changed. Beside her, Linde offered a light hum as her tail graced the back of her mistress' leg.

Sure enough, H'aanit was back in the same space where all the fights against the gods had taken place up to this point. The previously crowded locale of the shrine had expanded into a large battlefield, and H'aanit glanced around carefully for any signs of her opponent to be. She didn't like the idea of fighting the god she had worshipped most growing up, but it was all a matter of formality and proving oneself. She had nothing to concern herself with.

Draefendi stood at the other end of the arena, her bow already in her hand. H'aanit could tell from just a glance that it was the legendary weapon the group was searching for. Draefendi herself had a light gray cloth wrapped around her eyes to shield them from view. Her hair was a dirty strawberry blonde color and cut close to her face in loose waves, her skin pale from a lack of sunshine. Draefendi wore a variety of furs ranging from light tan to light gray, all of them covering her body in just the right way so as to not impede her movement. Her boots were a stark and deep gray hue where they stuck out beneath the pattern of light gray and white fur hanging from her waist.

The most impressive fact about Draefendi had to be her build though. She was easily one of the most muscular of the gods, her arms defined from years worth of training and fighting. A small scar kissed the bottom of her left cheek, and H'aanit could only imagine other traces of combat hid beneath her furs. Any wear on her hands was masked by a pair of simple black gloves. Judging by the tight grip she had on her bow, she was already more than ready for the battle at hand.

"I welcomen thee, travelers," Draefendi started. Her voice echoed throughout the area, and the eight travelers reached through their weapons on instinct. "Thou comen for a battle. I can seen it in thine eyes."

"You would be correct," Ophilia confirmed. "We seek your blessing, but in order to claim it, we know what we must do." Small traces of light magic danced across the surface of the Illumination Staff, though the gleam was quick to subside a few moments later.

Draefendi cracked a small smile. "I see no point in waiting any longer then. Ready thou weapons," she instructed. H'aanit had always heard growing up that Draefendi was a woman of few words, preferring to let her words speak for her, and she could see just how true that statement was then and there. Draefendi had known a fight was coming from the start, and she was looking forward to it perhaps even more than the other gods. Given the fact that she was one of the most eager for a battle out of the gods, up there with Brand and Winnehild, it was hardly surprising. If anything, H'aanit was looking forward to seeing where this encounter took her next.

The yellow torches scattered throughout the room flared to life before settling a moment later, and that was the only cue Cyrus needed to raise one hand high and send a blast of wind magic toward Draefendi. She slid backward by a few paces but was still able to maintain her balance for the most part. The huntress pressed an arrow against her bow and pulled the string back, offering an even more impressive view of her muscles in the process.

The arrow flew hard and fast through the air, only stopping when it hit a wall of ice Cyrus threw up at the last minute to defend the party. Electricity had danced across the surface of the arrow, and the thunder fizzled out against the ice. That was enough to melt some of the ice into water that dripped onto the ground of the shrine a moment later. The gentle dripping sound was the only thing to break through the silence for a few heavy beats.

And H'aanit knew she was going to have to stop it as soon as possible. Draefendi's element of choice was lightning if the yellow torches and charged arrows were any indication, and that meant the travelers would need to be careful about leaving any water around. H'aanit didn't want to imagine what could have happened if Draefendi was able to electrocute the water, and she knew that was one question best left unanswered all the same.

Therion caught on as well, and he rushed out from behind the shield of ice to slide across the ground, dragging one hand through the water along the way. His hand was alight with fire, and the flames immediately ate away at the water to leave behind little more than steam that rose to the top of the arena before fading away. Cyrus and Ophilia both ate away at the shield with fire magic as well, pressing their palms against the barricade to pull it apart.

Draefendi didn't back down for long though, and she twirled one arrow around her fingers before moving to nock it in her bow again. This time, the electric arrow flew toward Tressa where she was standing just outside the confines of the melting shield. The merchant yelped and ducked quickly, leaving the arrow to slam straight into the wall of the cave behind her. Tressa breathed heavily at the sight of the arrow leaving a massive dent in the stone, and she inwardly thanked her quick reflexes for getting her out of the way in time.

H'aanit looked over Draefendi quickly and realized the huntress had no other weapons on hand. Draefendi had come from the Woodlands and did much of her fighting and hunting under the cover of shadow and stealth. There was no way for her to do either one at the moment though, and that was a weakness for the travelers to exploit. She was a ranged fighter and kept no close weapons on her person, so if any of them could get in close enough to attack her from behind, then there would be little she could do to fight back.

Draefendi had another arrow on her bow before H'aanit could offer her new advice to the rest of the travelers, and Primrose swerved out of the way just before the arrow could strike her. Instead, the arrow went past the dancer and wound up in the wall... Or, at the very least, it ended up in the wall after passing through one of the many torches lining the arena. The force of the arrow had been strong enough to completely extinguish the yellow flames of the torch, leaving that portion of the arena coated in shadow.

That was Draefendi's real plan, wasn't it? If she could get rid of the torches, then she would be able to take advantage of her old fighting style of hiding and picking off her enemies where they couldn't see her. She didn't have magic to extinguish the torches like Aeber though, so she had to rely on using her arrows to darken the arena. If she missed the travelers, then she could just line up her shots to hit the torches. Getting rid of their visibility would reduce their ability to avoid her attacks, after all.

Olberic ran toward Draefendi with his sword held high. She didn't nock an arrow before he arrived in her vicinity though, instead just charging the weapon with electricity and wielding it like a small and admittedly ineffective dagger. Still, the threat of the lightning was enough to sway Olberic from hitting her head-on, and he swerved to the side and into a back kick from the huntress. Olberic turned his sword around to embed the blade into the ground, forcing the rocks beneath his feet to restrict his movement and keep him rooted in place.

Draefendi turned around to try and stab him with the arrow once again, but she never hit him before a column of light appeared between her and Olberic. The warrior took this chance to scramble away, and Ophilia lowered the Illumination Staff before flicking one hand in Draefendi's direction, creating a massive gust of wind to push the huntress back. Just like Tressa's earlier attack, it stopped her for a moment, but it wouldn't be enough to keep her at bay forever.

Draefendi rushed toward the cleric a moment later, her charged arrow still at the ready. She raised it high and prepared to bring it down, but Ophilia threw up the Illumination Staff to deflect it at the last moment. The legendary weapons were unbreakable as far as the group could tell, and Draefendi's arrows weren't enchanted the same way her bow was. As flimsy a defense as it was, Ophilia blocking the strike with her staff was an effective way to keep the huntress from striking her for a few seconds.

The distraction was enough for Primrose to appear behind Draefendi to stab at the huntress' back. Draefendi took the hit, but it didn't appear to do much damage given her thick furs and natural strength in combat. Either way, Draefendi pulled away from Ophilia to turn her attention to Primrose instead, and the cleric scrambled away to prepare a stronger spell. Primrose ducked under a slash from the electric arrow before cutting up with her knife, only barely dealing any damage to Draefendi but still stunning the huntress for a second. As soon as her foe was distracted, Primrose cast a dark spell and hurled it at the goddess, darting out of the way as soon as the magic hit its target.

Draefendi took the hit hard, and that was the only indication Alfyn needed to send a blast of light magic at the huntress. For all of her impressive physical defenses, Draefendi was inexperienced with fending off magic attacks, and that was the weakness the travelers would need to exploit in order to win against her. H'aanit hardly considered herself a powerful magical fighter, but she was still more than happy to send out a blast of fire toward her opponent to try and force her to drop her guard.

Draefendi twirled an arrow around and used the electricity on the tip to cancel out the flames H'aanit had summoned. From there, she nocked the arrow on the bow and sent it streaking toward one of the other torches. About a fifth of the battlefield was completely shaded by this point, and Alfyn's eyes went wide when he realized what Draefendi was trying to do. He immediately pulled away from the shadows that had come to surround him, priming the Rose Axe for an attack before rushing toward her.

Draefendi tried to deflect the attack using her bow, but Alfyn's weapon was large enough for him to push through her defenses to get a strike in. This was perhaps the first physical attack to do substantial damage to the huntress, but even then, that wasn't saying much. Draefendi was quick to push back against Alfyn, and even when he summoned vines to try and hold her in place, she forced him away from her without missing a beat. From there, she started firing arrows at the remaining torches lining the room, extinguishing another two before the vines around her legs grew to be too much of a hassle for her to ignore.

Draefendi tore her legs away from the plants easily enough, her raw strength turning out to be one of her greatest strengths. Afterward, she retreated into the darkness of the shaded half of the shrine, and the travelers whirled around to try and keep track of where she had gone. They weren't able to determine her location until after she had let another arrow loose though, and Primrose tackled Therion to the ground to get him out of the way of the impending attack. The two rolled together as a tangled pile of limbs before the thief pulled away from the dancer, and they came up in crouches in the darkness.

H'aanit looked down to Linde where the snow leopard rested at her side, and she offered a nod to her partner. Linde sniffed at the air to try and catch a sign of where Draefendi had gone to specifically, eventually glancing off to a specific spot off to the left of the dark patch in the arena. H'aanit nocked an arrow and prepared to fire it, but she didn't let it loose until another electric arrow burst through the darkness, acting as a brief beacon in the shadows. The arrow soared toward one of the remaining torches, but before it flew, it briefly lit up Draefendi's face and upper body.

Found you.

H'aanit released her own arrow, and she heard a muted gasp of pain when she struck true in Draefendi's shoulder. Above all of the other gods, Draefendi needed both of her arms to be in working order for her to win in a fight. The others could easily swap their weapons to their other hands if need be, and while it would drastically decrease their skill and coordination to use their nondominant hands, it was still possible. Bows, however, needed both hands and arms to be in good condition if they were to function. In striking one of Draefendi's arms, H'aanit had forced the goddess' greatest boon, her range, to disappear.

Draefendi seemed to know it too, and she reached for an arrow in the darkness before charging it up with yellow electricity. The sparks were quick to die down, only flickering for a moment to allow Draefendi to reorient herself. The huntress tucked her bow on her back before she turned her attention to the rest of the travelers, charging toward the closest target: Cyrus.

Olberic noticed Draefendi was coming first, and he slammed one foot on the ground to create a barricade of earth between the goddess and her target. Cyrus' eyes went wide instinctively, but he forced himself to retreat before summoning a surge of wind that struck around the wall to try and knock Draefendi off her feet. The goddess was pushed away slightly, but it wouldn't be enough to hold her off forever.

Luckily, Ophilia and Primrose were more than ready to jump in and keep Draefendi away once more. Ophilia raised the Illumination Staff while Primrose twirled the Shadow Fan, and twin blasts of light and darkness streaked toward the goddess. Draefendi tried to twirl her electrified arrow around fast enough to keep the attacks from hitting her, but that didn't end the way she was hoping, forcing her to suffer both of the strikes at only slightly decreased strength.

H'aanit moved toward Therion where the thief was twirling his dagger and preparing to release a blast of fire to take advantage of his opponent's aversion to magic. Before he could let the flames loose though, H'aanit placed a hand on his shoulder. Therion looked up to her with a furrowed brow and confusion in his eyes. H'aanit was quick to explain. "Lighten the torches around the arena once again," she whispered.

Therion nodded, and when he pointed his dagger forward, a surge of fire followed the tip of the blade toward one of the torches. Immediately afterward, the torch sparked to life, though this time, the flames were red rather than Draefendi's signature yellow. The arena was cast in a new glow with yellow on one side and red in one specific corner of the field. Darkness still covered a little under half of the arena, but it was a step in the right direction.

The increased visibility gave Alfyn the chance to try and restrain Draefendi with his plants once again. She stepped away before the vines could wrap around her legs, but that wasn't what Alfyn was going for this time. Instead, the plants moved toward her injured arm. Draefendi had pulled H'aanit's arrow out and tried to concentrate her energy to recovering her wound so she could use her bow again, but since her magical abilities were limited and focused on offense to boot, that plan wasn't working as well as she had been hoping.

As such, Alfyn was easily able to target Draefendi's arm, and his vines sprouted thorns that tore away at the weak point in her shoulder before moving down the length of her limb. No matter how much Draefendi tried to pull herself away, she couldn't fully escape the grasp of the greenery. She twirled her arrow around to stab at the vines and pull them away from her body, but by that point, the damage had already been done. She wouldn't be able to use her bow for its intended purpose for the rest of the fight no matter what she tried.

Primrose and Ophilia lashed out at the goddess once again with dark and light magic respectively, and Draefendi was forced backward into the line of fire of Therion's attacks. The thief was still targeting the torches, but Ophilia and Primrose's team attack had perfectly put Draefendi in the position to be hit by his next strike. Draefendi tried to block with her electrified arrow, but she failed once again. Instead, she opted for throwing the arrow with as much force as she could muster as soon as she had absorbed the damage. Therion was able to get out of the way though, and he went back to lighting the room once again.

H'aanit readied an arrow and sent it flying, hitting Draefendi in the shoulder once again. Afterward, the huntress reached for her axe, darting in the direction of her quarry. With a quick hit to the chest from the base of H'aanit's axe, Draefendi was sent backward into a small outcropping of stone Cyrus had summoned. The goddess tripped and fell backward to the ground, and H'aanit was quick to place one foot on top of her chest before pointing her axe at Draefendi's chest.

For a few long moments, the air swelled and the arena fell quiet. Everyone waited to see what happened next, all eyes on H'aanit and Draefendi. The huntress goddess smiled after a handful of heavy breaths, and H'aanit took that as her cue to move away. Draefendi rose to her feet and bowed her head deeply. "Thou art powerful," she complimented softly. "Thou didst not holden back."

H'aanit shook her head. "Each of your allies has held back less and less as we fighten through them," she explained. "Thou was just the latest in a long line of difficult opponents, and thou fought honorably."

Draefendi smiled and watched as H'aanit tucked her axe away. As soon as the weapon had been placed in its home at H'aanit's hip, Draefendi extended her uninjured arm forward, her bow locked between her fingers. It was a gift, a note of pride to the travelers for having won against her. "This is known as the Lightning Bow. May it serven thou well in the journey to come," Draefendi said.

H'aanit gladly accepted the bow and measured its weight between her fingers. When she went to grip it like she was preparing to fire, an arrow appeared from nowhere to rest on the string, and the huntress' eyes went wide. Draefendi was quick to explain. "It can createn arrows as well. I chosen to not usen that ability during the battle so as to not putten thy forces at too strong of a disadvantage," Draefendi told her. H'aanit nodded and allowed the arrow to fade away as she replaced the bow on her back. Her old weapon ended up being passed to Tressa, who examined it carefully before tucking it away with the rest of her things in case they decided to repurpose it later.

"With my blessing cometh the gift of lightning magic and an incredibly powerful strike to be used in the darkest of battles," Draefendi went on. "Usen both gifts well, travelers."

The eight travelers exchanged a brief look at that before nodding. As long as they had the bow in their hands, they were free to go and return to Victors Hollow. They certainly wanted to go back to town after the intense battle, and the resulting exhaustion hung heavily over them all.

But H'aanit was not quite so quick to call for a retreat. Instead, she took a step forward, and Draefendi's expression shifted slightly. "Great Draefendi, I must asken thee a question," H'aanit began.

"Goen on," Draefendi instructed.

"The beast known as Redeye... Wouldst thou knowen of a way to defeaten him?" H'aanit questioned. The atmosphere in the shrine changed immediately with those words, and the other members of the group looked to one another once again, but this time, worry gleamed in their irises rather than triumph.

Draefendi was quiet for a long time before offering a reply. "Redeye is not of this world," she eventually said even though that was hardly a response to the question at all. "Defeating him will not be a simple task."

H'aanit nodded. "Still, we must tryen. For the sake of those who have suffered at the beast's hands, we must fighten with all that we have," she insisted. "How shouldst we handlen a battle against him?"

Draefendi once again fell silent with those words. "Proceed with caution," she responded carefully as if she barely knew how she was meant to respond in the first place. "Redeye is powerful but not invincible. Thou will holden the power to defeaten him... In time. Right now, thou lacketh the necessary strength to bringen Redeye to heel."

H'aanit frowned, not at all surprised but still wishing she would receive a different response. Draefendi went on when she saw H'aanit's dissatisfaction. "Redeye will showen himself to thee again with time. Tread carefully, and thou willst defeat him one day," she elaborated. "That is all the information I can providen thou. Travel on, and be cautious always. The realm of Orsterra resteth in thou capable and powerful hands."

H'aanit didn't even have time to consider if she had another question for Draefendi before light sparked around the entire arena and swallowed her and the rest of the travelers. When the huntress next opened her eyes, she was back in the physical world. She let her hands wander to her back, and she felt for the Lightning Bow before confirming that it was, in fact, present. They had won the battle, and now, they could continue with their travels.

But H'aanit's mind was still lingering on everything Draefendi had said. The goddess seemed confident the travelers would be able to defeat Redeye with time, but believing that was much easier said than done. Z'aanta was the strongest fighter H'aanit had ever known, and even he had crumbled like a house of cards before Redeye's raw power. That was hardly going to stop the huntress from pursuing the beast, but the idea still left her wary.

For the time being, H'aanit was simply going to have faith that Draefendi was right when she said the travelers would have the power they needed with time. H'aanit refused to lose hope when she was getting closer to freeing her master from his prison of stone, and even if she didn't know what to think of what she had heard, she would press on. In the meantime, all she could do was put one foot in front of the other. Z'aanta's life depended on it, and so did the lives of countless other people.

The travelers were all watching H'aanit in the silence, all trying to convince her to open up about why she had posed the question to Draefendi in the first place. H'aanit hadn't voiced her anxieties to the rest of the group, after all, so their confusion was understandable. However, she couldn't bring herself to elaborate, not with a massive knot of anxiety still pressed against the back of her throat. Instead, she turned back to the exit of the shrine, her braid swinging against her back all the while. "Comen. Victors Hollow awaiteth."

Well, that sure was a surprise. Chapter two is over one chapter earlier than expected! Woohoo!

I was originally anticipating the Draefendi fight to need an extra chapter, but once I started writing it, I realized I would only need through the end of chapter 111 to wrap up everything from chapter two. Next time, we can start off chapter three with Tressa's segment. Yay!

First off, I really liked writing this fight sequence. I always love the fights against the gods especially since it's a lot like writing varying fighting styles for the travelers but repurposed into stronger opponents. I think it's really interesting, and Draefendi was no exception. As the group goes through the gods, their opponents start holding back less and less, so Draefendi is the hardest foe they've fought thus far. The other four will only get tougher from here, but for now, the group got through her with her blessing and all.

Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room... H'aanit is having a rough time. She was already struggling with the matter of Z'aanta being turned to stone, but the tournament was a reminder of the fact that he should have been there, and she's been spiraling ever since. Unlike other members of the group though, H'aanit is quieter and tends to keep to herself, leading to the others not knowing what she's struggling with as well. That's going to be an underlying plot point throughout Tressa's chapter three to lead us into H'aanit's chapter three after the Victors Hollow saga is over.

I have to say that I really liked having the fight against the god in between the two plot chapters in Victors Hollow too. I feel like that's a nice break from the regular action. It wouldn't have worked in Quarrycrest, but I like how it works here. Plus, this is a clean ending to chapter two.

And with that said, we're going to start chapter three next week! I hope you're all looking forward to it, because I haven't been able to shut up about it for the last few weeks. It's going to be great. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital