It was a dirty job and Karthus hated every moment of it. He had decided to go through with his plans to try and cultivate a garden at the edge of the forest but this was not a task he was well equipped to do. He had done his best to research how plants were farmed on the Isles centuries ago, but most of that knowledge had turned to dust. Since he could not turn to books, he had investigated as many of the old barns and farmsteads that still stood to look for surviving tools. This was also met with minimal success. And so he had to forge ahead with limited knowledge about what he was doing.

Though he would never have admitted it aloud, Karthus had wished for Hecarim's help as he struggled to till the cold earth. He had brought several wraiths of his congregation along with him, and though they were nowhere near as physically strong as the Horseman, they were able to clear away the rocks and uproot the unwanted plants. At last, a small patch of land was becoming workable. Now that the difficult part was over, Achlys also attempted to help. She sat on the ground by her father and was happily digging little holes in their garden. She was absolutely going to need a bath when they were done.

"Do you want to plant the seeds?" Karthus asked.

"Yeah!" Achlys cheered as she held her hands out expectantly.

Karthus withdrew the pouch of seeds that he had convinced Elise to bring him. He placed one in Achlys's outstretched hands. Kneeling down next to one of her holes, he pointed to the bottom of it.

"Place the seed here," he instructed, "and then we will cover it back up with the soil. With luck, these will grow into beans."

Achlys followed his instructions and waved "good-bye" to the seed as it was covered. Karthus then took a bottle he had filled with water and poured it over the seed.

"Please grow," Karthus silently pleaded with the seed, "for her sake. I can't believe I am doing this. I was never meant to be one who grows things, not in life and not now."

They continued planting the beans together until Achlys, dissatisfied that the seeds were not growing as immediately as they had with the spectral farmer, grew bored.

"I go play," she declared.

"You can go play, Achlys," Karthus agreed, "but do not wander far and do not go into the forest. We can visit the toads after I am done planting."

As he spoke, Karthus directed one of his wraiths to follow Achlys and keep her safe.

"Okay," Achlys agreed before scampering off.

She didn't need to venture far to find something to entertain her. When your world is full of bright, glowing specters it is easy to be enthralled. One such glow that caught her attention was emanating from underneath a bush at the forest's edge. Achlys lifted up the low branch and found a small striped spectral lizard. Just as it would have in life, the creature eyed Achlys with a wary gaze. Its tongue flicked in and out and its stripes pulsated with a cold light. This delighted Achlys. She became determined that she must catch this creature and she must show it to her father.

"Come here," she told the lizard.

She reached out with her magic wreathed hand for the tiny specter. In an instant, the lizard took off. It scurried away to the safety of another bush. Its speed only made Achlys want it more. She crawled over the other bush and again tried to pluck up the creature. Again it fled. She chased it from bush, to rock, to log around the outskirts of the forest, but always, it was faster. At last, the lizard having grown sufficiently annoyed climbed up a small tree. From its perch, it looked down at its pursuer and flicked out it tongue.

Achlys looked up at her target. It was completely out of reach, even when she jumped as high a she could. She pointed at Karthus's wraith and then to the lizard.

"Get." She commanded.

The wraith looked passively at her. It was not bound to her will, and so it continued to follow Karthus's order alone. Achlys repeated her command again, with similar results. After a third unsuccessful attempt, she decided that if she wanted that lizard caught, it was something she was going to have to do herself.

She climbed up onto the protruding roots of the tree to give herself the boost she needed to start climbing the petrified pitch pine. With determined hands, she pulled herself up branch by branch. So focused was she on the lizard that she didn't notice how shaky her footing was becoming on the fragile branches. And then, as she was reaching out for the lizard, she went up on her tip toes and lost balance.

Achlys tumbled out of the tree and landed on the ground with a thud. Mercifully, the fall was not far, as she had only managed to climb a little over her height up the tree, but that did not mean that no damage was done. The rough bark of the pitch pine had scrapped against Achlys's soft skin as she fell. Achlys clutched her injured arm and coughed as she recovered from the air being knocked from her. Then she began to cry.

Karthus's wraith screeched along with her as it was whipped up into a frenzy at her distress. Before it could even leave to fetch its master, Karthus had appeared. He was at Achlys's side in an instant.

"Achlys, what happened?" he asked as he checked to see if she was seriously injured, "are you hurt?"

She didn't say anything, but pointed at the tree and continued to cry. Karthus picked her up and cuddled her in his lap. She buried her face into his robes. As she gripped him, Karthus noticed blood on her arm. The bright shock of red he saw there startled him.

"Let me see your arm, please," he cooed.

"Ouch," she whimpered.

Tenderly, he held her arm and examined her injury, careful not to get any of the dirt in it. The abrasion was shallow, but it was still bleeding and would need to be bandaged up as soon as possible.

"I will take care of you, Achlys," he whispered, "I will make it all better. It may sting a little, but everything will be alright."

But as he comforted her, Karthus felt a sinister presence lurking among the bushes. He looked over his shoulder and saw several wraiths lurking in the shadows. They had been drawn to the sound of the cries and excited by the scent of her blood. Karthus could sense their bloodlust and he understood that at that moment, they saw her as living prey first and a denizen of the Isles second.

Without a moment's hesitation, he concentrated his magic at the location where a wraith was hiding and detonated it. The wraith screeched as it was destroyed, reduced back to mist. He knew that others still were hiding, so he commanded his wraiths to drive them off. With a hiss, they went tearing into the underbrush, flushing out the other undead and tearing any they caught back into formlessness.

Karthus scooped up Achlys and carried her back over to their garden. He held her close, rubbing her back until her sobbing subsided. When she finally grew calm, he set her down and used the remainder of the bottled water to wash out her wound. Achlys whimpered as the cold water washed over the sensitive skin.

"I have some clean bandages back at the cathedral," Karthus informed her, "we will cover that when we get back home. Achlys, why were you trying to climb that tree?"

"Want it," she tried to explain, "small soul."

"Small soul?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I want it. Too fast. No grab."

To emphasize her point, she summoned balefire to her hands and flexed her fingers as though she were trying to grab something. But after a moment, her injured arm began to tremble, magic fizzling out in an instant. Achlys whined and grabbed at the abrasion again. Karthus caught her hand.

"You cannot touch it, Achlys. I know it hurts but picking at it will only make it hurt more."

"Cold," she complained.

She held her arm, still shaking, back out to her father. Karthus held it. He had lost the ability to feel temperature ages ago, leaving him with option but to take Achlys for her word. But as he held her arm, he felt something else. The magic she had summoned, although she had dispelled it, still clung to her. More specifically, he could feel traces of it lingering about her abrasion, leeching the warmth from her. He placed his fingers over the injury and withdrew all the remnants of the stray magic from it. Achlys looked down at her arm. She didn't understand what had just happened, only that her father had made it better, as he promised he would.

"Thank you," she gave him a weak smile as she spoke.

"You are welcome, Achlys," he responded with a pat on her head, "now let me gather our belongings. I want to get you home so we can finish bandaging that scratch."

Achlys sat and waited in silence, which was just what Karthus needed at the moment. He had a lot to think about. He wasn't mad at Achlys, he was more disappointed in himself for not thinking that she would consider climbing a tree. No, his concerns were that all it took was a little injury for the lesser spirits to turn on her and, had he not been so close, they may have prematurely killed her.

"It is not yet her time," he thought to himself, "she still has her purpose to fulfill and I am not done watching her grow."

Something would have to be done. For starters, Achlys would need to train with her magic more. With him, she could improve her mastery over balefire. Perhaps, he could even help her learn basic levitation, something to prevent her from ever needing to climb a tree again. He shook his head. No, he knew the type of magic that would be best suited to help protect her, and it was not one he was proficient in; domination magic.

Karthus could exert his will over the lesser spirits on the Isles by simply being near them, but Achlys, being so young, still lacked that power. She needed something more direct. The power to force her will onto souls and drag them around, the magic she had learned from Thresh, was exactly that. Karthus loathed the idea of bringing her back to the Warden, but the thought of her being mauled by wraiths was infinitely worse. So he resigned himself to reach out to Thresh for her sake.

Still, that wasn't enough for him. Karthus knew that more would need to be done to protect his daughter. The wraith he had directed to protect her had failed, its mind too simple to comprehend the danger Achlys had put herself in. He would need to find her a constant guardian with more wits about it. But any greater spirit would be a risk, since she would have no control over it. And then an idea came him.

"Perhaps," he thought, "I could create a protector for her. I have seen other constructs here, the stone golems of the Isles old inhabitants. I could study them, learn how they are powered, and recreate it. This could take years to perfect, but the reward will be well worth it. Until it is completed though, her magic will need to be her second defense."

With all the tools gather and packed away, Karthus took Achlys's hand and led her back to the cathedral.

"I will always be her first."