FSE

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Chapter 1: Blood and Fire

On a warm summer day at a field close to Wyrm Lake, a young badger was sitting on a red rock, holding the walking cane he made from a juniper tree firmly in his hands. His name was Aldric, and he was member of the shaman caste of his home, the underground city of Scathsolas, and currently on a mission leading him further to the south. Information have come to his king that a strange sighting occurred in a remote area of Argentflux. He was send to investigate it as he had a better insight into the supernatural than a regular scout would have. However Aldric himself wasn't quite sure what to expect from all this. It could have been something mundane that some fool misinterpreted as something divine or demonic, or it could be in fact something supernatural after all. He could only guess. Looking upward the sky Aldric stood up and continued his journey.

Another investigator was strolling around in Argentflux to find whatever had been sighted in the surrounding area. Leofwine, an otter from a small settlement in the land of Bijulac, was hoping to get himself some good money from whatever it may be. His best chance was that he could pretty much trade it for enough silver to get his family, consisting of him and two siblings, to Urbulchem where they could enjoy life far away from the hardships of the wilderness of Bijulac. He smiled at the thought that they all would have the chance to become more than just scavengers and fishers, but he had to find something he could sell first. But so far he had found nothing, safe for some nuts, berries, and stones that he couldn't care less about. It was rather frustrating for him to know there was something to which he had not found any clue other than its potential existence, yet giving up wasn't part of his plan. Being completely devoted to his own cause, he didn't hear the approaching footsteps coming towards him.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something?" a rather friendly voice asked Leofwine, who turned around with a startled expression on his face to look into the striped smile of a badger holding a cane in his hands. "You were looking at the ground, so I assumed that you could use some help."

Leofwine sighed, he planned to find something secret of high value, so that badger was just a nuisance to deal with right now. "Um, thanks but no, I am just looking for something nice to eat for the evening," he told the stranger hastily and turned back to the ground.

"Wouldn't it be easier to get a fish from the river than getting anything else for example?" the badger suggested while pointing at a river that was visible through the trees.

"I want to try something different for once, I eat fish on a daily basis so it does get boring at some point," Leofwine tried to evade, but he immediately felt as if the badger could see through him. But he would not tell him anything, as the chance for immense riches was so close to grab.

"Okay, if that's so I just have one question. Do you know about the anomalies going around in this area? Perhaps a clue what it may be or where it was spotted?" the badger asked casually.

Leofwine gulped as he saw the possibility of that striped bastard taking away his chance for a good life. "Anomalies? You sure? This place is just like every other forest in Argentflux," he lied with a betraying look away from the badger's green eyes.

"Alright, in that case I won't bother you any longer. Good luck and farewell," the badger said as he turned away from Leofwine and disappeared into the forest.

_ _ "Great, if stripeface over there gets to find that thing I may as well go home," Leofwine quietly mumbled, while his eyes were twitching in anger about a potential competitor. But then he got an idea as he started to slowly go in the direction Aldric went and carefully made sure to remain in the slip stream as he went from one cover to the next.

Aldric traced along the paths going through the woods with vigilant eyes and nose. Since whatever it was that had been spotted was seen around here there had to be signs of it somewhere and he was determined to find them he told himself. And after a while he could see at least something. Other foot prints were leading from the path into the denser parts of the forest, which could only mean that someone else has been wandering around here lately. Perhaps he could get some information from them. Following the trail, he didn't recognize that Leofwine was sneaking carefully behind him.

The otter was quite talented at moving almost without a noise and since he was following a badger he didn't worry too much to be heard or seen. His talents usually came handy for him as he could simply grab and go whenever he pleased. And that was exactly what he planned to do once something he could desire was found.

Meanwhile Aldric could finally sense something. And it worried him. It was a certain scent of iron and ash that was not too familiar in that combination to him, but he could still identify what it was. He ran towards the source of that smell and found himself confirmed. "Great Goddess!" was all that could escape his muzzle as he saw what he had sensed from afar. It appeared to be the remnants of a camp belonging to warriors of Kärmave, a kingdom of wolverines further in the north whose symbol, a dragon's head, was visible on part of their armors. Scorched bodies indicated that it was burnt down by someone, though some bodies had clear cuts across vital spots as well. His nose sensed additional scents that belonged to other species then the one this camp seemingly belonged to, one now particularly coming from behind him as the breeze got weaker. "How interesting, are you the otter from before?" he turned around to face towards a tree where he could sense Leofwine standing behind, his staff aimed threateningly at it. "I am able to smell you, so get out before I have to make you."

Realizing the futility of resistance Leofwine peeked carefully from the tree he hid behind, and slowly came forth. He was avoiding to look towards the scene in front of him, as the scent of blood already made him feel sick.

Aldric examined the otter carefully as he was not sure about trusting him. "Why did you follow me? What is your mission here?" he asked in an indignant tone.

Leofwine shook as he could feel the aura of dread coming from the badger. "I swear, I have no idea what happened here. People said there might be something of value around this part of Argentflux and I just thought it could help my family out," he told truthfully and with tears coming from his eyes as he feared Aldric would harm him, if his story wasn't believable.

"I see. So you followed me in hope I would find it. And then you would have stolen it, or at least tried to. But you didn't lie to me at the very least. And believe me, I would know," Aldric stated as his expression and voice eased up. "I still wonder what happened here. It appears whatever it is that we were searching for, it is worth enough to kill for."

"It seems that way," Leofwine said rather quietly. He was rather shocked by the sight of so much death around him and shacking in fear as he was holding back the breakfast from breaking out over his throat.

Aldric could sense the otter's discomfort, but he couldn't afford to care for it right now. He had to know what happened here and there was only one method to be sure. "Say, could you do me a favor? I need to get a little advice by a spirit, so I can say what happened here. Would you kindly keep an eye out for me?"

Leofwine looked up slightly startled at that proposal. "Wait, you are a shaman? I mean, sure just, can we go to a place that is a bit more peaceful?"

Aldric gave him a calming smile as gestured him to follow. "Sure thing, let's see where we have a good spot. The name is Aldric by the way."

"Leofwine," was all the otter was willing to say as they went past the fallen to seek a safe place for Aldric to contact a spirit.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the area a single wolverine named Vidar was running through the forest with all the speed he could put into his legs. He carried a cyan gem in his pocket which emitted a soft and gentle light inside. When they found it they thought it was just a nice present to their king, but when he saw how his comrades fell when they were ambushed, he was now sure that the gem was not just a nice trinket but actually of value to someone who was willing to kill for it. But before he was able to even look out for a shelter a shock went through his body and he stumbled with a painful intensity to the ground.

"What a pain. Why are cowards always so fast," a rather snobby stallion dressed in a legionnaires armor mocked Vidar as he kicked the defenseless wolverine in the stomach, which thankfully was protected by leather armor. "So weak and pathetic, hard to believe that they tell horror stories about your people to the children."

"Whoreson, you won't get away with this!" Vidar yelled as he struggled to move his body, but his nervous system was now almost fully paralyzed by the spell of the horse. He knew that it was over for him, he was fully at the mercy of his enemy, unable to defend himself from any fatal blow.

"The usual line. What should happen? Asterion and I already wiped out your friends and so far you are all alone. It appears we are getting away with it," the stallion whispered with a wicked tone into Vidar's ear before he took the gem out of his pocket and called for his ally. "Asterion, I found that little bastard!"

A few moments later the massive figure of a bull clad in the same armor as the horse came to the scene, followed by a rather shy-looking fruit bat who was wearing a simple type of cloth around its body to fit around his winged torso. The bull snorted a bit as he took the war hammer he was carrying on his back and started to aim for the wolverine's head. "Want me to finish this now, Incitatus?"

"Not yet, I think my household could take another slave for the cleanup. The other slaves just suck at this and other things," the horse replied as he took a few binds out of a bag he was carrying around and proceeded to use them on the wolverine to make sure that he was completely unable to bite or move after the paralysis would wear off.

Meanwhile the fruit bat was moving uncomfortably behind his master. He knew the procedure that was coming too well and felt pity for Vidar. But he had to obey and thus was unable to do anything against it, so he could only ask, "Shall I use healing spells on him while you put the spell on him, Master Incitatus? So at least the physical damage is reduced?"

The horse thought a bit about it but he shook his head in the end. "Wolverines are supposed to be tough, so I assume that we will see if that's true. We don't want to insult his pride now, do we?" he said before he put his palm on the back of Vidar and started his twisted game.

At a different location Leofwine nervously walked around as the badger Aldric was standing under a tree and chanting something inaudible. Shamanism was nothing new to him, but he couldn't help to think it was rather nonsensical at a moment like this. He went closer to the badger and examined the black and white face that was completely calm while he seemingly talked to something. Wondering if he could react to anything, Leofwine poked into the left cheek and pushed the big head slight to the right.

The badger didn't seem to feel it as he continued his chants and remained otherwise still on his place. His consciousness was pretty much carried over to a state of trance, which left him completely unable to sense his surroundings.

Since he didn't have anything better to do Leofwine thought that he would be better off just looking the area for himself. But before he could even consider to do just that he heard something coming east from him. It sounded like a few people laughing wickedly and it made the otter's legs wobble. The images of a sole survivor being tortured went through his mind and he immediately went to Aldric and shook the shaman with as much power as he could afford.

Having spent the past few minutes somewhat delusional the badger took a bit to regain his senses fully. "The spirits tell that two warriors came to take the shard. They slaughtered their enemies, all but one, who at this moment is at their mercy," he said in a rather disconnected tone, his eyes looking empty before they slowly refilled with life again. He took his staff from the ground, now facing to Leofwine. "So, I think we might need to fix that."

"In that case, I think they are east of us," Leofwine stated as he pointed into that direction. "I heard some laughter from there, so I think we should hurry up."

Aldric shook his head as he grabbed the otter at the shoulder with a firm hand. "Not a smart idea, they have killed several trained warriors, so they are not pushovers to say the least. We need to approach this smart and sneaky," he said as he held his staff into the air and closed his eyes, concentrating for a powerful spell.

Leofwine gasped as a cold feeling went over his spine. He knew a little about shamans and mages and their powers, but feeling those first-hand was uncomfortable and awkward to him. "So, what did that do?"

"Well, we are completely covered under a wind and dark elemental spell. As long as we are relatively in the shadows we can't be seen. Our scents and noises are also not noticeable for a while." Not even waiting for the otter's reaction Aldric sprinted forward, his staff carefully positioned to not get stuck between the trees.

Vidar's muffled screaming got quieter every time Incitatus was pushing his palm into his back. The stallion used pyro kinetic magic constantly on the wolverine with his right hand, burning through the leather armor and fur with ease, while his left on the forehead tried to break through Vidar's mind. The skin was already visible and shaded in an ugly burned red, leaving the wolverine at constant pain that made it hard for him to hold back the tears of pain and to resist the spell that was used on him. His psyche couldn't last much longer and once it was shattered they would have him.

Incitatus grinned wickedly as he inflicted more and more pain on his victim over and over again. He enjoyed to see the squirming movement, the sound of pain. And his current victim put up quite a fight even, making it more satisfying that he would be winning anyway.

Asterion on the other hand was bored as the slave of his partner was send to look around for some firewood. He just sat around and flexed his arms a little bit as he looked around to look for anyone approaching.

While they both were minding their own business, Aldric and Leofwine stood in the shadows of the forest to analyze the situation. The badger grinned a little as he looked at the situation carefully and realized that he could indeed use his magic efficiently. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the earth below him to command what was within it.

Asterion suddenly felt something odd down on his hooves and before he could react to it he was suddenly engulfed by vines that came from the ground and bound him in their powerful embrace. "Incitatus, what's going on here?!" he yelled as his body was completely immobilized by the plants.

Before Incitatus could even turn his head around, more vines started to emerge from the ground and covered his limbs and pulled him away from the wolverine. "Idiot, you were supposed to look out for any disturbances!"

Aldric laughed softly as he came out from the darkness of the woods into the clearing. "I am not sure, if you two have a right to complain if somebody interrupts your torture session," he said calmly as he went towards the wolverine and knelt down to put hand above the body.

Vidar could feel how the ropes dissolved and he slowly stood up from the ground with the burning pain still present on his back. He turned towards Aldric with a weak smile on his muzzle. "Th-thanks," he said a bit weakly.

"I am loyal to my allies, warrior of King Bjartr," the badger replied as he turned to the horse with a hateful glare. "This place is under administration of Scathsolas, Kärmave, and Bijulac. What are two warriors from Urbulchem doing here? This is not your land and you have no right to break our laws!"

Incitatus struggled to break through the vines but was ultimately unable to as he couldn't focus his magic in his current state. "Swine! Don't you know who I am?" he exclaimed with poisonous disgust in his voice.

Being rather unimpressed by the threat Aldric took his staff and smacked it down on the head of the horse. "I don't really care about that. Answer my question or face the consequences."

"If it's what you want, I won't tell you. Die you filthy," before he could finish his insult the staff of the badger hit him hard on the head again, this time strong enough to actually knock him out. The spell that encased his body stopped at the same moment, letting his unconscious form fall to the ground.

Smirking a little bit Aldric looked to the spot where Leofwine was still hiding and gestured him to come over to them. "How about you have some part of the action here? This guy certainly has something of value on him. Take it, if you like."

Being slightly confused about that proposal the otter slowly came towards them and took a bag Incitatus was carrying around and slung it around himself. "So, do we leave them like this?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer as Aldric already had one end of his staff aimed at the stallion's heart.

Vidar didn't bother to say something as he slowly knelt over the horse's body. He took the axe from his belt as his facial expression was getting mad and his teeth were completely exposed for everyone to see as he went closer to the horse. The axe came down on Incitatus, over and over again, hacking through legs, arms, torso, and the neck, blood spraying on Vidar with every single hit. The wolverine's eyes were just starring at his work while he unleashed a violent outcry. He didn't stop till all what he could see was blood, bones, and guts that he spilled around in his hateful anger.

Leofwine felt sick as he saw just how brutally the wolverine killed the horse. He almost threw up but was able to contain it for now. However, he could see in his peripheral vision that Vidar was now going towards the bull with his axe ready and his expression almost insane.

Asterion was completely paralyzed by fear as he was now expecting the same fate as Incitatus. Unable to even insult Vidar, he just starred at the axe on which his partner's blood was still sticking on.

But the wolverine had no interest in using it on the bull. Instead he threw the axe aside and pressed his hand on the spot where the bull's stomach was covered under. "This time your friend won't interfere!" before he could even give anyone a chance to react Vidar made a powerful gesture with his other hand and stepped away from the bull.

Asterion could suddenly feel a hot sensation spreading on his body as flames started to appear all over him, engulfing him fully within just a few seconds. His screams of pain and agony went through the entire forest and actually made Leofwine threw up this time while Aldric looked mildly disturbed as the bull's flesh was devoured by the fire.

Vidar was thrilled as he exacted his revenge on the two, but he completely overdid himself with using that spell and had to sit down on the ground to catch his breath. As his mind cleared from the fog of anger, all that was left in him was an unbearable emptiness. Fear, hatred, anger, it all died with the two men he slaughtered with his own hands. His friends and comrades were still dead, nothing could change that. He sank down silently and tried to handle this reality without embarrassing himself by crying.

"Well, I guess that he answered your question Leofwine," Aldric said casually as he took a step to the now scorched skeleton of Asterion. "Pretty impressive. I always thought Kärmave was strict about magic being unsuitable for males, but you seem to be more than a novice. Well, I am now wondering why you haven't used it to fend those two off."

Vidar looked up, the fur around his eyes completely damp from tears he didn't want to show. "I tried, but the horse was quite a talented pyromancer himself." he told the badger with a deep sadness in his voice.

"I see. Sorry to bother you, but I need to know a few more details. I was send here to investigate strange occurrences, which I assume was also your mission. Considering what happened it might be something of highest importance," Aldric said with a calm undertone in his voice.

Having completely forgotten about this, Vidar came back to his senses, jumped up and run towards Leofwine. "Hey Fellow, give me the bag please!"

"Um, okay," the otter said slightly startled about the sudden change of Vidar's attitude. He looked at the wolverine rather confused as Vidar browsed through the pocket searching for something.

"Have it!" Vidar called out as he pulled out the cyan gem that Incitatus took from him earlier. "We found this a few hours before we got ambushed. Do you guys know what this is by any chance?"

Aldric took a good look on the odd jewel and recognized its light glow. "Definitely a magic container. The turquoises I have on my belt are similar to this, but the magic inside is different."

"In what manner exactly?" Vidar asked slightly confused about the badger's explanation, mainly as he had only a clue of how to cast spells, but not about artifacts.

Aldric took the gem from the wolverine's hand and held it up towards the sky. "If it was usable for magic spells something would be happening now. This however seems to be for something else. Not sure for what precisely."

Vidar took a second to process the information and come to a conclusion before he replied, "You know, I think we should head for Bijulac. It is the closest place to go for research."

"We should do that. Some druid might have something on it. Else we may look at my home in Scathsolas," Aldric agreed as he looked over to Leofwine. "Say, did you come from a settlement in Bijulac by any chance?"

The otter nodded and replied, "We do have a scholar from Urbulchem where I live, and perhaps he can help you two."

Aldric smiled satisfied at that revelation. If two soldiers from the empire were after the gem someone who came from there as well might know something. "Well, then we will gladly escort you back home. For free and without any downside whatsoever. By the way," he now turned to the wolverine, "I think we need to exchange names. I am Aldric and the otter's name is Leofwine."

"Vidar, pleased to meet you," the wolverine replied still somewhat stuck with grief in his tone. "If you two don't mind, I would like grant my comrades a basic funeral. You could probably help me with that, can't you?"

"If Leofwine searches for a good resting spot for tonight. I think he got a bit much on the bloody side today," the badger stated as he took his staff and made the earth cover up the corpses of their fallen enemies.

Khaba cursed inaudibly as he could barely move with holding the sticks for firewood in his feet. Bats usually had such problems, but his master still wanted him to come along as he was talented with healing spells. He personally would have wished that they didn't as the colder climate of the Argentflux region was hard to bear for him, especially at night. "This is so redundant," he said to himself as he threw the sticks to the ground and flew up a tree to take a short break while hanging downward. He had long been sick of his life as a slave and the duties he fulfilled for his master. Incitatus was a cruel noble, who found joy in torturing and abusing his enemies and slaves. And Asterion, his partner, was only slightly better. Khaba hated them both, but the spell placed on him forbid him to act against his master's wishes.

But while he was resting he had a strange intuition. He let himself fall from the tree and landed perfectly on his feet as he looked into the direction of his master's location. Spreading his wings again he flew towards them carefully. He could now hear a blood-freezing scream that made him cover his sensitive ears and then got into hiding spots to approach carefully. The clearing got visible after a few moments and what he saw confirmed his suspicions. He could see how a badger and otter, both dressed in rather primitive clothing, and the wolverine were talking to each other. His sensitive ears allowed him to eardrop on them, but he was just sighing as they didn't anything of interest. Thus he followed Leofwine after he went down to the river and remained in the shadows as he came ever closer to the river, where he finally was close enough. "Excuse me, dear friend, may I ask you something?"

Leofwine jerked around with a frightened expression on his face, but it eased up as he saw the smaller fruit bat standing in front of him. "Okay, I have to say that is less threatening than I thought. You are not a friend of someone by any chance?"

"Not of the two, if you mean that. My master's death sets me free, thus I can consider you a friend," Khaba replied as he spread his wings and put them around Leofwine in a manner that resembled a hug.

Blushing because of the unexpected embrace, Leofwine tried to see how to put his arms around the winged mammal, but it seemed rather odd to put his arms around the neck of the bat, so he refrained from doing so.

As Khaba released the otter from his hug he turned around to look into the woods. "I have collected a bit of firewood earlier, so how about getting it to this place to make a nice campfire. And I may introduce myself before we do that. I am Khaba."

"You can call me Leofwine. It is nice to meet a bat like you. I actually must admit all the bats here look very different. Your face is more fox-like, I guess," the otter replied as the two went to get the firewood.

"Well, the bats living on this part of the continent are different in a lot of manners. I eat fruits instead of insects for example," Khaba explained as he tried to remember encounters with domestic bats in Urbulchem or other places he had been to.

Leofwine was rather intrigued by learning that the bat originated from far away and listened eagerly and with an almost euphoria facial expression. "So, where are you from exactly?"

"My mother was from Altradia, but I was born a slave in Urbulchem. I was sold into the services of a man named Incitatus when I was five," the fruit bat told rather cheerfully now that this part was in the past and over.

"So, what was living in Urbulchem like?" the otter asked with curiosity as he now had someone to tell him about the city who was actually reachable to talk to.

"Well, I was a slave as I told you. Not really a good position to tell you about it," Khaba yawned as he saw the pile of wood he collected earlier. "Well, I think we can talk about it later. Your friends will ask me about those things anyway, so let's just wait for them."

Vidar was drying the damp fur around his eyes as he was now standing in front of the graves that Aldric and he had dug for his comrades. Thanks to the earth magic of the badger it went rather fast, but it still felt like hours to him. "It all looked so peaceful and happy. How could it all end like this?"

"In case it makes you happy, they appreciate this service a lot," Aldric said as he had his eyes closed to focus on the voices of the souls. "Your friend Jerrik seems eager to tell you that you should have happier thoughts. I think he is right about that."

"Stupid optimist. He would usually say something like that," Vidar replied with a soft chuckle. "Can't he understand what it is like to see the mutilated body of," he stopped as he realized that Aldric might not need to know more than necessary. "Well, thanks Jerrik. I will miss you my friend."

"Well, he will too. But we should get going now. Leofwine is making a fire at the river now and it seems we will be in for a surprise. Well, you will, I already saw it," Aldric told him as he opened his eyes and his senses left the spirit world. He led the wolverine through the forest towards the spot where the spirits told him where the otter was and just a few minutes later they could smell the burning wood, as well as the otter.

"Say Aldric, is that surprise a person?" Vidar asked as he could now clearly smell that there was another person at the fire. It was familiar to him, but it took him a few moments to realize to whom it belonged. "Ah shit, I forgot about the slave," he said into himself as they stepped into the spot where Leofwine was sitting with the fruit bat that accompanied the horse and bull earlier. "Um, I guess I kind of nullified your contract. So, sorry for you being stranded here," he said in an apologetic manner.

"I don't mind. Incitatus was a horrible person. You did me a favor by killing him and Asterion," Khaba said as he took a piece of wood with his right foot and put it carefully into the campfire. "My name is Khaba, you must be Vidar and the badger is Aldric, correct?"

"Yep, that's us. Nice to meet you, Khaba," Vidar replied as he sat down on the campfire and took off the burned leather armor. His body was rather burly, though he was still quite strong-looking.

Khaba took a deep breath as he was about to say something about the wolverine's back. "If you don't mind, I would like to treat your burns. I am sorry I couldn't do anything to help you when my former master did this to you."

"It's hardly your fault that it happened. Though, in case you can treat the burns, I would appreciate your help," the wolverine replied as he turned his back to the bat, which was now carefully spreading his wings around him. The burns disappeared miraculously as the energy of the bat's magic was flowing through Vidar's body. It still took a few minutes for the fur to grow back, but he felt like new, physically at least.

Aldric looked rather impressed at Khaba's healing abilities. It was rare to develop such an ability without any proper training, so he wondered if the bat was specially trained to be a medic in case his master needed one, though he wouldn't profit from that anymore. "Say Khaba, do they teach slaves magic to help out their masters in Urbulchem?"

"They do. Since they force spells on us we can't use ours against them, so it is not really a bad idea actually. Thanks to the death of Incitatus I am freed from it however, so I can use it to our benefit if needed," the bat explained as he flew up a tree to rest a little. "I will take a short nap then."

"Alright, I guess we can look for food then. I will look for fruits, while Leofwine might go fishing," Aldric suggested and he and the otter went on to get the food for later.

As night fell upon the forest Vidar was twitching around and mumbling to himself in his sleep. He was standing in a field of stones that surrounded him like a wall. The more he turned around to look for an exit the closer the rocks seemed to get till he found himself stuck within them, unable to move. He sunk down, his back against the stone, and started to cry.

"G.. o..!" called a voice from somewhere in the distance. It was rather weak and hard to identify. "Ge. o.f! The voice now got louder and it was clearly that of a male, but still Vidar didn't know to whom it belonged. "Get your fat ass off me!"

Vidar woke up and turned his head around to see that he was lying on Leofwine, who looked rather sore from almost being smothered. "Sorry, buddy. I think that I got a bit busy in my sleep," he apologized and stood up to help the otter up.

"You certainly were quite busy," the otter said as he got up and moved his body around to fight the stiffness. He could see that Aldric was still sleeping, while Khaba seemed to stare at them from his branch in amusement. "And you could have helped out a little bit."

Khaba chuckled softly as he showed off his wings and flew downwards past the otter towards Vidar to land on the wolverine's back, holding himself with his feet on the arms of the wolverine. "You already woke him after your third yell, so I think you are fine, aren't you?" he said with a shameless grin on his face. Now that he was practically holding on to the larger wolverine, the bat covered Vidar's torso almost completely with his wings. "Also, he is fuzzier if you ask me."

"Hey, are you making fun of me?" Vidar asked angrily as he tried to shake the bat off, without much success. Khaba got a good grip on the wolverine's arms and the wings made it hard to move them already, thus the bat remained in place.

"A little bit, because you and Leofwine are such a funny couple," Khaba replied with a loud laughter, which however was cut short by a lightning flash and thunder that startled the bat so much he fell hard to the ground.

"Ah fuck it, now it has to be raining?" Vidar cursed as he helped up the bat by grabbing the thumb of the right wing. "Shall we wake up Aldric and ask if he can make us a shelter with his magic?"

Leofwine already was shaking the sleeping badger's body heavily to wake him up as quickly as possible. While it worked, it surprised Aldric so much that he punched the otter in the face before he realized whom he just hit. "Sorry Leofwine, you need something?"

"A cover from the rain would be nice," said the otter while rubbing his hurting nose. The badger's punching arm was not as fearful as the one of Vidar might be, but still able to induce pain.

Aldric rose his arms and closed his eyes to command the earth around them to take a new form. Within a minute a ceiling was formed above them that kept the rain from falling down on their bodies. Another lightning flashed through the woods and the sound of its thunder and dropping rain followed soon after. "Okay then, do you need some potion for sleep as well?"

"I guess I am fine Aldric. Finer than Leofwine at least, so I guess I might just lay down and try to sleep in," the wolverine replied as he went back to the spot he was sleeping earlier while Leofwine and Khaba took different spots to be undisturbed for the night. It did took a while till he fell asleep, but this time it was without a nightmare.

Septimus was walking around his family's villa in circles. The fox was agitated this night as his stepfather and he had a fight earlier about the war with the Eastern Empire of Shalagab. He was against sending more troops there, which were needed to protect the Northern borders. However, something felt odd as he was approached by a familiar senator, a rather old black bear with a scar across the face. "Horatio, is something wrong?" the fox asked rather bluntly.

"Septimus listen! The emperor was attacked a few hours ago. He survived unharmed, but your father is badly injured and wants to see you!" Horatio explained as he tried to sound as comforting as possible.

It was however not really troublesome for Septimus that this happened. Death was a common thing in the politics of Urbulchem. Either through war or murder, it happened often enough to take any form of shock from his mind. He just followed the bear to the bedroom of his stepfather and entered it respectfully.

"Ah, it is nice to see you Septimus," said an old gray wolf that was lying on the bed, his head barely able to look up, the fur already having lost all of its vitality. Septimus' stepfather Marcelinus was dying, a small bloody wound being visible on his chest that was leaking blood constantly.

"This injury, why haven't healers already treated it?" Septimus asked as he approached his dying stepfather and held his weak hand. "You protected the emperor with your body, which is certainly heroic. But why this sacrifice? You have seen three emperors before him in your time as senator. Why jumping in front of him?"

"Septimus, a little advice. Politics are not always about truth. The emperor wasn't attacked this night. But this is the official story to keep outsiders from knowing what they shouldn't. Horatio and I can't afford to let the truth come to anyone's ear but yours. I was attacked, but not while protecting the emperor. Rather I was the target as I had something they needed," Marcelinus explained before he coughed up and spit blood on his clothing. "They also tried to make sure I die. My wound was inflicted with a blade enchanted with the bleeder's curse. You need an expert to remove that one."

The fox arched an eyebrow on that story. "What would be important enough to steal from a specific Senator rather than a random one?"

The wolf tried to get himself up, but he was no really able to do so anymore without causing himself more pain and thus needed his stepson's support. "You remember the necklace I used to carry around? The gem it carries was of importance to them, I assume. And for a reason. It once belonged to the treasures of the destroyed city of Rayot. At least that is what I was told."

"Foolish legends in my opinion. How would they know that this gem was what they are searching for, if it even exists in the first place," Septimus commented but he could see that his stepfather wasn't finished yet.

"It doesn't matter if the stories are true, it is more important that they think the gems are from Rayot. And that there is a purpose to them coming together." Marcelinus explained as he laid down again to rest. "I wish you a good night, my son. Take care of yourself and your brother."

"Gaius will have my full support, I promise. Please, greet mother from us," the fox said as he left the room to put his focus on other businesses. "Horatio, you remember that Gaius wanted to study the cultures of the North when he left three years ago? I need to find and get to him as soon as possible. Will you take care of my businesses while I am away? I wish I could stay for the funeral, but my brother has a higher priority now and I am not sure how long it may take."

The bear gave him a gentle smile as he patted the fox on the shoulder and followed him to help with the preparations for what was to come. It would be a long night for the two of them.