A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. I have a creative block like no other.
I cheated and made Okku larger than his in-game representation. Come on, he's a god. Mononoke style.
Names and murky faces converged that night, budding samples to the whole, eventually blooming into an unsettling blend of opposing feelings in tandem. The night had been less than young when the party finally retired, yet none of them had slipped painlessly into sleep. Even those who were incapable of hearing the spirits' plight could sense it on some level, and it had occurred to Gann, as he tried vainly to rest, that it was likely that all of Mulsantir was tossing and turning in the same states. Safiya, perturbed to share her room with a new stranger, stared at the shadowy walls as Kaelyn contemplated the coming battle. It was with bitter and anxious resignation that Gann crossed to the dreaming plane and sought out Cal's mind; the more he had considered their predicament, the more sense it made to meet the spirits head on. They would not sleep and the longer they waited, the angrier and stronger the army grew – and they risked the town eventually rising up with pitchforks and torches to throw them to the incorporeal wolves.
He set out to wake the girls, but that desire was extinguished fairly quickly. Kaelyn's gales were fierce and he found himself with neither the energy nor the interest to part them. He found her wrought with single-minded fever, an almost fanatic sentiment that could lead to no good. Safiya was no more cooperative. For as he glimpsed one sight of her, another emerged – all voices of the same distant echo ricocheting across the dreamscape. Colors of red and white shimmering between the here and now, the past and future. It was such a broken, jagged stretch of confusion that Gann parted from it quickly, feeling mildly unsettled himself. He'd dealt with nightmares before, but such a paradoxical array of sliced thoughts, spoken and unspoken words and muffled understanding melding with illogical disbelief – that was not a nightmare, nor a dream as much as it was the shattered scream of insanity.
It took him a bit of searching, but it suddenly made sense that the borders of Cal's subconscious were dim with shadow. Gann had honestly assumed she was lying about her memory, but the lack of substance suggested either amnesia or disability – and he wasn't entirely sure which was more likely. The void extended to the very edge of her dream, and as he neared, he realized with a note of disquiet, that it reached out to him. He felt the strange tug of its vacuum as he neared, felt it resonate like a deep and desperate hunger. Gann didn't want to admit that the sensation overturned something in him, something he had not felt in years. It frightened him – but even more than that, it intrigued him. He had never encountered anything like it; not even the blackest of hearts nor the emptiest of souls had ever been so dark and devoid.
He decided that he definitely was not going to linger after they met with Okku. Should they live, Gann was going to take his leave – far, far away from this disparaged void and her surreal company. But for now, he had no choice but to brave the dark waters of this hollow mind and seek the dreamer.
And the first thing he noticed had been a rhythm – was it a heart beat? It was too faint to properly make out, and between the varying shades of shadow, he had little visual evidence to go on. Everything was some shade of black, surrounding and nestled against one another to just barely create outlines. There was a deafening silence, underscored with that bleak and senseless beat, but no echo. It made the fine hair on the back of his neck rise. He could only barely make out the shape of some arrangement of buildings around him... buildings, and... and something else. Something familiar.
Gann squinted against the dark, creeping closer to the dappled pattern of light against dark, slate against coal – the shape of stone upon stone and the finer, smoother grain of wood. The only noise in the background remained that soft tempo, and he realized that it was only just growing louder. It was a steady creak. The spirit shaman felt his brow furrowing against his thoughts and as he turned and the shapes began to manifest within his own memory, he realized with a pique of horror that he was standing before gallows. He looked up.
The noise suddenly strengthened. "Monster."
He had only enough time to make out a body of a wolf, oddly enough, hanging from the rope before the shadow began to untangle itself and dissipate from under his feet. It suddenly melted away to reveal the murky tones of his dim room, and in the backlash of the moment, Gann could not recall the last time he had felt such relief. He learned his lesson; confrontations would need to be handled the old-fashioned way, in this temporary allegiance.
xxx
You rescued me... you must have been sent by Ilmater... please, please... A man and woman, tearful and frightened. Their names were gone, washed away with the rest of her memory, but the feelings carried like seeds on the wind. Please, find my son. Ilmater bless you. He has called you here.
"Wake her," a voice snapped, interrupting the flow of the voices. It paused, lingering for a brief moment before the darkness encroached once more. The scent of night fell heavily upon their senses; the crisp air, tinged with salt from the sea. The deepening shades contrasted with the illumination from the moon. And... something chilling. The howling.
"She should rest – we all should," a softer voice whispered. Children, somewhere, began to cry.
"If we don't … soon … be resting among worms..." Help.
The sudden snarling face of a wolf manifested with an outside bang, and Cal jolted awake with a gasp.
"Damn him," Safiya muttered under her breath, turning to her startled companion.
"What's going on?" she asked, her heart hammering beneath her ribs. There was a sense of urgency, demanding and inexplicable and terrifying. Safiya shook her head, looking exhausted and irate.
"Gann," she said. "He is insistent that we meet with the army before dawn."
"Dawn?" Cal furrowed her brow. The mix of scenery between what was then and what was now had thrown her.
"He felt concerned enough to invite himself into our room and wake us. You might have heard the door slam," the Red Wizard continued. Cal glanced to Kaelyn, noting that she was strapping on her heavy armor and looking a little disoriented. Gann. A bitter memory of him lingered behind her closed eyes, somehow tainting the faint murmurings of memory that taunted her in her rest. The situation slowly settled outside of her panic, and she grit her teeth. Cal swung her legs over the bed and rose, temper breathing life into her. It had hit her. He thought he could command them. It was time to show him who was in charge, here.
"What in the nine hells are you talking about, facing Okku at dawn?" Cal shouted as she crossed the hallway, slamming open his door. Gann paused in the act of strapping on his spear's holster, though hardly looked at her "Do you suppose we'll have an advantage as we stumble and falter due to sheer exhaustion? Are you some sort of expert tactician? Who do you think you are?"
Gann finally met her gaze, though the passive attitude reflected just the same; his stare was cold and angry. "I think that I am by far the only one in this pitiful little army with any knowledge of the land and the spirits within them and that it would be wise to heed my counsel."
"And if your counsel is bullshit? How is Safiya going to memorize her spells? When will Kaelyn pray – in the midst of dodging spells and claws? And how in the hells will I even pick up my sword?" Cal snarled at him, talking wildly with her hands as the spirit shaman continued to stare, passive as sculpted ice. With a note of incredulity, she turned away from him. "I'm in charge, anyways; your opinion doesn't matter. We're going to sleep and resting properly before we slay that monstrosity."
"Certainly – nix the slaying him part of the plan – replace it with accepting death and resigning ourselves to fate and we'll have ourselves a routine outcome."
Cal stopped in her tracks. His bold retort, aside from making her furious, gave her pause. She glanced back to him.
"And what in the hells makes you so sure of that? Why dawn?"
"Well, either way, our chances are not the best. In that, you can be assured I am speaking true. Still, we have one advantage - Okku's army," Gann said and Cal gaped at him.
"You're mad," she dismissed, beginning to turn around. "I'm going back to bed."
"If you're so eager to die," Gann snarled, beginning to follow her. "Do so on your own time. You bought my blade and I will not throw my life upon it just so you can get another precious hour in before the spirits ravage the entire town."
"Huh?" she stopped and turned back to him, raising a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"Cal," Gann said and paused, rubbing his brow. "I must ask you a serious question, one that I would prefer you consider with as much thought as that little brain of yours can bear before answering. Are you mentally incapacitated? Has whatever stolen your memories stolen your mind and general ability to reason as well? Are you capable of thought?"
Cal's eyes widened throughout his tangent and a deep, angry color rose in her face as she balled her fists. "Excuse me?"
"Ah, so you are not capable of processing language, either? I should have expected as much, you - ," Gann was cut off suddenly by Cal suckerpunching him in the middle. He doubled over as she stormed back to her own room.
"Take off your armor! Get back to bed!" she pointed at a bewildered Kaelyn and Safiya, voice raising to a roar. "I'm the one Okku is after and I'm the one making decisions! Gann is not here to order you around, he's here to catch arrows for us!"
"Ah, Cal," Safiya said, meeting her side gingerly. "Gann is a spirit shaman. I don't think that dismissing him is the wisest course of action..."
But 'wise,' seemed to be her hot button. "I don't care. Okku will fall just as easily at noon as he would at da - ,"
"It isn't about easy," Gann's voice, cold as ice, slithered from behind her. She began to turn just as he caught her shoulder and forcibly whirled her around with one hand, the other at his stomach. He looked furious. "It's about securing a victory. Consider why Okku even has an army. Consider why you even bartered me out of my cell. Even if I'm here to 'catch arrows for you,' it's aid. Assistance. Are you even sentient?"
"So kill his lackeys? Well no shit," Cal began, wrenching her shoulder from his grasp, but he caught her wrist instead. As if struck, a wave of electricity rolled through her entire limb and spread through her shoulder and the pit of her arm. In start and in pain, she yelped and jolted back, but Gann was not deterred.
"Kill his lackeys before they tear through the town and slaughter us in our sleep, you idiot," he hissed at her. He paused briefly, grimacing as his grasp tightened on her wrist. Cal's wide eyes flickered to it. Slivers of pale flesh shined between his fingers, wrinkling against his grasp. He continued, his voice lowering into nothing short of a growl as he winced. "The spirits... nnh... are restless. There's a legion waiting outside the gates, led by Old King Bear... he's awake... and not pleased about it."
The terse silenced crystallized within the room, almost in a tangible effort as Gann met Cal's gaze. His facade had been stripped away, revealing nothing but gravity and a cold, resilient anger. "That army sustains his rage and his strength... they are like a drumbeat for his heart. Now, you did not just secure an ally or a bodyguard – I am neither to you. I offer you my counsel not to play into any petty hierarchical dominance games with you, but to survive this battle. I am a spirit shaman, and to your ill-bred, barbaric customs, that may seem strange to you – but here my ability is an invaluable power that would serve you well should you prove capable of listening to me. I can hear those beasts screaming for your blood, and while I don't quite blame them, I intend on living through this. They want to take the town now; we do not have time for you to lie around doing as you please."
Safiya and Kaelyn stared, wondering whether or not Cal would comply – or if the two of them would simply kill each other instead. They had locked in an unsettling stare-down with one another, neither making another move. Cal's fist balled. Kaelyn, however, interrupted.
"Is there a way to meet this bear god peacefully?" she asked. They continued to glare for a final moment before Gann glanced to her, as if he had been delayed in hearing. He gave a humorless laugh and Cal tore her hand from his grasp, striding back to her bed as she rubbed her wrist and shrugged the long sleeves of dress shirt back over it. She grabbed her tattered leather armor from the floor.
"Get out!" Cal roared, her back still turned to him.
"Out of the room, or out of the Veil? Because if you're 'firing,' me, you can rest assured that I will not heroically meet with Okku tomorrow and save you from certain de - ,"
"Get out of the room, now!"
xxx
Light was only just beginning to fringe the horizon, bleeding into the dark abyss of the sky. Safiya muttered under her breath and counted on her fingers and Gann was able to just make out a few words here and there, segments of incantations that she had memorized prior – or was currently drilling now. Gann hoped for the former. If the battle proved too harrowing, he hoped to escape – but he didn't have any delusions about invoking the rage of the spirits. It would be hard to hide from them, if even possible. The thought made him anxious, but no less angry. And suddenly, he wanted answers.
"What did you take from him anyway?" Gann demanded, breaking her concentration. She stood across from him at the hallway, outside of Cal's locked door. "I've never seen... or heard... such an uproar. I'm surprised the land isn't tearing itself apart."
"You already know what I took," she said, indicating to the closed door.
"And you risked life and limb and became a sworn enemy to the spirits of the land for... her? See, I thought most thieves were interested in treasure..."
"It's none of your concern," Safiya snapped. They tested his patience as much as they invoked his curiosity.
Kaelyn remained silent as Cal prepared, observing her. The aasimar wasted no time in locking the door and throwing off the shirt she had slept in, and the half-celestial already knew why. Gann had touched upon an old wound in their verbal battle; perhaps more than either of them knew, but Cal seemed to be more interested in the physical. She held out her arms, turning them in the dim candlelight, scrutinizing the flesh. Patterns of light dimpled her hands and wrists in what to Kaelyn was various shades of gray and white – but to another, would have been rivets of pink and purple scar. She flexed her hands, moving svelte, wiry muscle in her forearms, watching light interact with shadow across the patterns.
"Whatever past it is that you cannot recall," Kaelyn began softly, and Cal looked to her. "... haunts you."
She averted her gaze at once and began to tie herself into her armor and all of its trappings. "Apparently."
"But such scars can be healed," Kaelyn said after a moment.
"I don't remember them; they don't matter. They're just an inconvenience," Cal said.
"At the very least, you might do well to avoid collecting more," Kaelyn returned, and the aasimar paused to glance at her yet again. "This spirit that you will meet today – I ask that you remember Ilmater's name even as the bear god curses your own. We must at least try."
Cal nodded and Kaelyn bowed her head to pray. She prayed to be armed with an arsenal capable of dispelling the oncoming storm without creating another in its wake.
xxx
The night air was so frigid that their breath was visible. Great plumes of fog enveloped the party as they exited the Sloop, licking at their heels as they began to walk through Mulsantir. The only sounds that fell in their wake were the crunching of frosted grass and the sucking mud underfoot. Despite the early hour, dim candlelight burned in certain windows, and peasants peered out behind curtains and slivers of doors left ajar. As they passed, the onlookers withdrew into hiding, drawing said curtains and quickly pulling doors shut behind them. A few remained, offering them none but cold and assuming glares, their eyes following like dogs as they walked.
"I get the feeling that they're not wishing us well," Safiya murmured to Cal.
"Of course not. You've brought their god howling to their doorstep, and we are standing against him," Gann said. "They wish to see us dead."
"Then we will disappoint them," Cal did not hesitate to retort. She exchanged a brief look with Gann, narrowing her eyes before returning them to the heavy gates. They heaved with the effort of opening, creating a very narrow space by unseen hands to allow the party through. "I beat him once; I can beat him again."
"And do you expect that bravado to keep you safe when they tear us down to get to you?" Gann asked, temporarily unthinking. The words of the wolf rang dimly in his ears, as if the conversation had taken place so many years ago. He was briefly surprised to hear himself echoing the very insult that had been cast in his shadow before Cal threw her gaze over her shoulder, halting at the gates. She looked momentarily distant, her strange gaze falling across each of them. There was a sudden hesitation before she shook her head and returned to their set path.
"I expect you to keep yourself safe," she snapped, icy and contained. "You already said you're out for yourself. See if you don't turn tail and run the moment Okku charges."
"You have surprisingly little faith in me," Gann said. "Considering that I am still here."
"Yes, you've already shocked me. See that you do it a second time."
"Well, let us pause for a moment and consider our next course of action," Gann said, stepping before the girls to halt them. "I do not think we should simply rush into this blindly."
"We're not," Safiya said. "You've already told us what to do. We'll attack the army first, and then Okku."
"We are outnumbered – and that is putting it lightly. We will hardly have a chance to prepare ourselves before they overwhelm us."
"And? Are you telling us to surrender, or run?" Cal suddenly asked him, catching him slightly off his guard. He eyed her.
"If you surrendered, the entire ordeal would be done and over with," Gann said and her face fell. "Okku wants you and only you. He is an ancient thing, and will keep to his idea of honor. That is, if he remembers it."
"Are you telling me to throw myself to him?" Cal asked, the anger fled from her voice. Kaelyn's black eyes floated from Gann to Cal, and rested upon her. She glanced to the half-celestial before returning to Gann, looking uncharacteristically perturbed.
"No," the spirit shaman said after a moment. "It would be worth considering if not for his army. They are out for blood. There is no telling what their reaction would be, should you martyr yourself. But you, brave one, would not even consider it, would you?"
There was a tentative pause and Cal swallowed whatever words had built upon her tongue. She turned from the party and passed through the gates.
"Listen for my voice above the din," he said as they followed her. "I will let you know when he is weak enough to do battle with."
"And if you fall?" Cal asked, not looking back to him. In the distance, bright swills of light tore through the horizon, the outraged cries ringing out in the tense air. They billowed like furious gales, carrying in echoes and ricocheting like peals of light against mirrors. There was a strength in the air, so forceful and demanding that it beat like drums. The party's gait slowed as they stared at the oncoming storm, each with a mixture of awe and horror.
"If you let me fall," Gann said quietly, "then you will have to use your best judgment. But clearly, it is lacking."
His words died away as the vast hoard began to breach the distance. Cal hesitated before squaring her shoulders and walking to meet them. Gravitating towards the front, Okku stood and Cal visibly paled in the approaching light. Safiya also seemed a little taken aback by the sight of him; surely the shadow of the bear they had faced in his barrow was no comparison to this form. Fully awake and fresh out of hibernation, driven by his fury. He was easily the largest spirit among the horde, standing heads above the other beasts; the angry, pulsating heart of the army. Ribbons of blue light – a fringe of energy so strong and sharp that it manifested outside of even his body, wrapped around him and wavering with his every movement. His eyes, glowing like lanterns fell across them and his large muzzle lined with a snarl. He and Cal separated from their respective packs and closed the remaining distance between them.
"So, you are brave afterall," Okku growled as he approached, his voice strong and guttural enough to cut through the icy air. It resonated so deeply that Gann could feel it vibrating beneath his ribs. He stopped several feet from their group, and his nose came up to Cal's face. "Wood and stone would not have kept us from you, but it is good that the innocent are spared my army's rage. This can be ended quickly, if you like. Present your neck. It will fit snugly between my teeth, and then we all can return to our dreams."
Okku took a few steps nearer, opening his blunt maw, baring his fangs. He snapped suddenly and Cal visibly jumped. She slowly squared her shoulders and glared.
"No."
"Mph. In your place, I would show my belly, and let my allies be spared," Okku growled, his eyes flickering from one ally to the next. They lingered on Gann briefly before returning to Cal. She looked particularly struck by his words, and the hand that had began to reach for her sword's hilt fell away. "You do not know what you are, not yet. If you did, you might ask me to kill you. Better that you never learn. Now, we have spoken enough. I will live in a world that is free of you. Or I will die, and dream no more!"
"No!" Cal shouted. The hand returned to her hilt and she wrenched her greatsword from its holster. She lunged before their party, sweeping an arch with the sword and halting it before them – as if in their defense. She was close – too close for comfort; the rise of energy from the spirit's bulk drew close to her, and her hair fluttered against Okku's breath. Cal rose her chin, slightly – both an offering and a challenge as their eyes met. "Spare your followers and mine."
"Cal -," Safiya started, but Kaelyn intervened.
"Let her attempt to pacify the spirit. We will defend her," the Dove said softly. Safiya did not look convinced, but she quieted.
"Let's settle this between the two of us," Cal continued, breathing heavily against the strain of feigned bravado and the weight of her sword's position. Okku paused, as if scrutinizing her. Despite the cocky show, she was shaken and obviously afraid. Okku huffed, flaring his nostrils.
"No, little one," he slowly and nigh imperceptibly shook his great head. "You mistake the will of these spirits. I would have come alone, but their resolve was too strong. I follow their will in this. All the land is united against you."
Cal's grip on her sword slackened as realization dawned across her face.
"We will drag your corpse to the cavern of runes, and there you will stay!" Okku bellowed before throwing himself towards her. All at once, the spirit energy grew, the spellcasters cried out their incantations and Cal braced herself for the impact. She threw her sword up as her allies lunged out of the way, catching Okku's sweeping paw – she turned it up and it slit open just before propelling her backwards, throwing her into the grass. Blue light burst from gaping slice in Okku's paw, weaving through the pad and fur, winding around his toes – as if sewing it back together instantaneously. Cal's eyes widened in wonder and horror in tandem before Okku turned and his other paw – claws gleaming dangerously in the dim light – came down upon her.
Stars burst before her eyes as he struck her across the face. She dropped her sword and rolled as if a mere plaything, left dazed in the grass. The bear god lunged, snapping open his fangs to presumably take the throat she had offered, but Safiya's voice rose above the din of angry spirits. Okku's jaws suddenly began to slow, his velocity drastically reducing until he seemed very nearly frozen in the air. The Red Wizard tore across the grass and grabbed Cal, heaving her to her feet and pulling her stumbling away from the temporarily-stationary bear.
"Gann was right," she said quickly, dragging her away from the chaos for a brief reprieve. Safiya turned around and grabbed Cal's chin, turning her face to her own and frowned. Angry clawmarks tore across her face, primarily at her jawline and cheek. "His army is giving him so much power that he's going to be impossible to harm until they're taken care of."
"I noticed," Cal growled, wincing away with pain. That wince led her eyes to shift, and suddenly widen. She turned and tackled a bewildered Safiya to the ground, feeling the sordid, feverish tethers of Okku's energy grasp at her legs mid-air. The bear god had rushed them, and Cal lunged from atop her companion, barely missing his claws as he sought after her with an enraged roar. The might of his power seemed to override Safiya's attempts at disabling him, and his fury guided him directly through the waves of snarling spirits, following Cal's path. Her boots pounded through the frozen grass and slipped, sending her sprawling just beneath another sweeping paw. As she hit the ground, she reached her sword and grasped the handle, bringing it up with her as she turned. It swept through the air and halted at Okku's throat. The impact bit into his fur and flesh, and temporarily stopped him. A deep growl shook through the blade and down through Cal's arms as the pale, furious eyes of the bear god lingered within her own wide and terrified gaze. Blue light bubbled up from beneath the cut and began to stitch the wound, increasing the reverberations as it pushed her sword from his neck. Her grip tightened and twisted as she tried to keep the sword in place, using every ounce of her strength to hold him back.
Kaelyn's prayers had been answered with an outlet of spells designed to weaken and disarm opponents. It was the best chance at peace she had been given, after neither Okku nor Cal agreed to a diplomatic resolution. Still, she could not touch Cal with anything that might aid in her defense, nor in her ability. Ilmater would not even allow her to empower Safiya, or Gann. She imagined that he stood firm in his resolve against war and bloodshed, but all the while, it was an immediate and visceral reaction rather than a strategic reasoning. She felt that Ilmater had forsaken them – and such scorn might eventually be cast upon her, for her role in the battle. But she would meditate upon that later. For now, in the midst of battle, she sent leagues of telthors and spirits fleeing from her sight as fear afflicted all who looked upon her. Her armor and eyes had been emblazoned with the fire of the rising sun, and the shadows cast by her wings reached out in great arching sweeps; the vision of angels had not always inspired peace and joy. They could, as she was, herald immense power. A power that even gods hesitated to test.
And those that fled met with the strength of the rebellion that scourged the opposing side of the battlefield. Unbeknownst to the half-celestial, Gann's spirits flanked him and met the frightened telthors, lunging upon them and tearing them down before they could escape. The spirit shaman's voice mingled with the din of howls and snarls, chanting spell after spell of elemental attacks upon the league. While Safiya and Cal had no choice but to engage the bear directly, Kaelyn divided their strength and sent them running into the gaping jaws of the scorned and furious spirits summoned by Gann, and his arsenal of offensive spells. Cal grit her teeth as beads of sweat ran into her eyes as the bear god settled atop her, his massive paws crushing her torso. She grimaced and yelped as his claws forced through her armor in his strength, biting down through her flesh. Okku's steady growling hinged into a pained snarl as all of the force she held in the blade seemed to converge. The blue light began to dim, and his force began to weaken. It nestled further into the fur of his neck as he shoved himself closer as Cal's stamina waned. Suddenly, the fury in his eyes faltered. He grunted with surprise as blood began to trickle down the blade's surface.
"There, you see!" Gann's voice called over the battle. Cal opened her eyes and Okku's ears twisted in his direction. "Slaying his spirit allies chips away at Okku's strength – but do not get overconfident, we have a long way to go!"
Okku paused, and suddenly his feral face contorted with rage. He roared and reared, heaving himself from atop her as he wrenched his claws from her flesh. Her blade swung from his neck, bringing traces of fur and blood with it, and her head rocked against the ground. The furious god twisted from her in one quick motion and began to barrel through the hoard, seeking his betrayer. Safiya was surrounded by spirits and prepared spell after spell to defend herself and assault them in tandem. She was afraid, and certain that she would not last the rounds of attacks – but something strange was happening. Perhaps to her or perhaps to the spirits, she was not sure – but she had not seen anything like it. Some struck at her with their claws; sharp and deadly natural weapons that would, under normal circumstances, leave her with grievous injury. But they dulled when they bit into her flesh, and left only minor traces that they had ever been there. Some spirits cast their own magic, assaulting her with the elements – but fire burned itself to small wisps before it could touch her, and ice melted into cold water at her skin. She was nicked, bloodied, scorched and bruised – but all in the most minor of ways.
And before they could become serious, Cal swept into their pack, cleaving spirits with her sword, and sending others scattering in start. Spirits sank into the ground and retreated to safer planes as her sword arched and flayed those with slower reactions. In the aftermath, she panted heavily and glanced to Safiya – who felt an immediate, surreal sense of calm in the face of a frenzied berserker. After quickly assessing that the wizard was not anywhere near death, Cal turned and sprinted through the battlefield, chasing after Okku.
"Hagspawn!" the god's voice soared like thunder through the fight. The few remaining spirits parted for him as he charged through the grass, directly in pursuit of Gann. The shaman turned and the look of renewed confidence dropped from his handsome face. Kaelyn watched and her gaze hardened, and the light suddenly fled from the bear god's eyes. Gann lunged away as he roared and twisted his ears in vain, swinging his head to and fro as if in the throes of madness.
"Honorless worm!" he snarled, flaring his nostrils as he blindly scanned his surroundings. Gann watched, transfixed as Okku began to inhale deeply and turn in his direction. "You forget that I can still smell the stench of your wretched, half-breed hide!"
Gann's eyes moved to the bleeding gash upon the bear's neck and began to back up, away from the spirit as he surveyed their damage. He saw Safiya as she disintegrated their enemies one by one. He saw Kaelyn, fierce and formidable as she watched him, disabling spirits with none but a wave of her hand. He didn't see Cal. But Okku could not see or hear any of them. "Okku is weakened! Finish hi -!"
He was abruptly cut off by a savage snarl, followed at once by one of the telthors tackling him to the ground. It was large, fuller and more tangible than the other spirits – and it was furious. Gann held up his hands to guard himself as fangs bit again and again into his flesh. Whatever had pinned him had friends.
"Betrayer!" the spirit roared at him. He was dimly aware that someone – likely Safiya – was casting spells in his aid, but none had dissuaded his attacker. And the pounding drum of Okku's paws had drawn close. Gann felt his ice running cold as for a fleeting moment, he wondered if he was truly done for.
And then he felt the ever-present void of their party draw near. And with it – perhaps in its shadow, perhaps in its core – flared to life. Okku's paws ceased their drumming and he heard the mighty King utter perhaps his first and last cry of terror.
Blood pooled beneath the bear from his struck side, and the tip of Cal's greatsword embedded into the frozen ground. The god swayed, slipping to the side against the force of the arched impact and swung his head to face her. She looked feral enough to rival him; blood dripped from her own injuries, and his blood painted her pale face – which was currently contorted with a snarl of its own. But it was not her appearance that was intimidating, but rather the force of it – the force of her. A dormant strength had begun to unfurl within her; he scented it like the humidity before rain, like the breeze before the storm. And he feared it, that power, that thing he had imprisoned so many years prior. Cal wrenched her sword from the earth and swung it upright, her mouth opening in an angry gape. Okku had not quite discerned her from 'it,' until then, until he saw the hideous creature. Suddenly, he could feel the chill and smell the ice in the air, and that in tandem with the eyes that trained upon him reminded him of the dreaded truth of the matter. It, like he, had been sleeping for so long, he had not recognized its face. His hearing had returned before his sight, but that quickly followed – and he saw it. She lunged for him, and he roared, throwing himself out of the way of her sweeping blade.
His army – what remained of it – suddenly stopped in the midst of the battle. Their attention had trained upon him, in shock. To the living and two-legged, that roar could have easily been interpreted as a battle cry, but on their ears, it was a warning. It was humiliating and terrified, but it was also a command. He wanted his pack to back down, to surrender and disperse. But they did not listen. They lingered, watching as the girl lunged again. Her sword plunged into one of his paws, splitting it. He snarled with pain and his army drew near, threatening to converge upon her. And if they did that, it would all be over. Okku stared at her – not her, it. He looked into its eyes and saw the empty, hungry eyes of the parasite. It looked through her eyes and saw him, saw his spirit and he felt how it craved him. It reached for him, and as his pack drew near, it reached for them, too. There was only one chance of sparing them, and of sparing himself. The girl pulled her sword from his paw and began to rise it.
"Enough!" Okku cried, his ears flattening to his skull in surrender. The girl was already prepared to kill him, but his army would never allow her – not unless he made them. "I yield..."
There was a rush of unease and discord through the army; surely they felt the building strength of the storm, but they would not recognize it. Few had seen the monster he had kept locked away for so long; they would not recognize it. The girl, still holding her blade, stared at him – and that alone was disconcerting. Though he was hardly able to read the expressions of the two-legged the way he could read his allies', he knew enough to recognize that there should have been something. But she was rapidly changing; the parasite was hollowing out her body and mind.
"Hurry, little one! Take a blade – tear out my throat!" Okku begged, hoping that she might overcome it long enough to spare him. He shut his eyes and rose his maw, offering it to her. Pride was the last thing on his mind. The silence seemed to stretch on for eternity, and it gave him hope. Perhaps it was not too late; perhaps there was enough of her left intact, enough that she might kill him before she remembered...
"Why are you in such a hurry to die, spirit?" That voice did not belong to her.
Okku's eyes snapped open and he felt his brow wrinkling. The body of the girl stood over him, against the rising sun. Shadow engulfed her front, hiding nearly all but her face. The voice had been icy and barely contained, almost amused at his plight. Her allies drew near to form half of a circle around them, still fresh with blood and bruise from the battle.
"Not for my sake, little one. For yours. Hurry, kill me fast, before -," Okku said, but it was too late. Mid-sentence, there was the beat – or the reversal of it. Like an inverted heart, it suddenly squeezed and twisted, and Okku could feel it. Horror overwhelmed him, and all he could do was stare agape. The void stretched and yawned, uncoiling after its long, uninterrupted slumber. It was starving – and it was angry.
"This... is the same as what happened in the barrow, when you consumed the spirit wolf..." the Thayan observed, not so steady herself. Okku felt it reaching for him, he heard its inhuman groan.
"What is that? It felt like... a backlash, a whip across my mind," the hagspawn appeared even more mystified than the Thayan. Doubtless he would celebrate in his loss – until he, too, was consumed. That fool had no idea what evil he had loosed upon the world by securing the girl's victory over him.
"Stop this attack! Whatever you're doing, you're feeding on his spirit, siphoning it!" surprisingly, the little bird had risen to his defense. But even she did not dare try to stop her leader. The girl had doubled over, wide-eyed and scowling with the force of it. In spite of her shaking, surely she could feel it growing stronger, too. Her eyes moved to Okku's, radiating fear and confusion in tandem. The god slowly shut his eyes.
"The presence inside you... it wakes..."
"What... is... this?" the girl managed to ask against the strain.
"Emptiness... hunger. Forgive me... I tried to stop you..."
The shadow of the girl standing before him transformed; great reaches of darkness rose from her back like wings, and as if propelled by it, her head tilted back and her feet lifted from the ground. Okku heard mingled noises of shock and awe from her pack, and felt the spirits around him disperse. They had finally heeded his warning. That much brought him relief in the face of oblivion. Tendrils of shadow wove out from the girl's body, grasping for him. He heard the furious growling of the monster, heard her allies pacing backwards, away from the inhuman thing she had become. Okku resigned himself and after a moment's hesitation, he sighed his last breath.