Varali had not slept for more than a couple of hours a night since she’d buried her father’s dead body. She knew she wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so to her mother’s, since she’d been murdered right next to the gods blighted pests’ nest and had since been devoured. Her breath caught in her throat, but she was able to console herself–tonight, the bastards would all lay slaughtered before her.

Her companion had grown surprisingly quickly in the last eleven days. Varali was sure that the Scaled Deer she had found was still a fawn, but it had grown nearly to the level that she could ride it. Varali supposed she should call it Fen, since that was what it called itself, but it was strange. In the nearest village there had been a SoulSpeaker, Ytelli, who had graciously created a Companionship Contract for Varali free of charge. Usually when a creature and a Speaker were bonded by a SoulSpeaker’s Companionship Contract, they could only understand vague feelings and occasionally simple commands. At least, that was what Varali had been told.

Fen, however, didn’t shut up. She said it was some [System] and that she used to be a human, one of the heretics no less, and all sorts of other crazy things, but Varali didn’t believe too much she was told. What she did believe, though, was that Fen was a special type of Scaled Deer, since she could use a magic similar to a SoulSpeaker’s Rousing Speech. It had kept the militia she had painstakingly gathered from all the nearby villages going for as long as they had. Everyone had expected to find the keelish languishing in their den, waiting to be buried and slaughtered.

Their expectations were dashed though. There was no resistance upon approaching the den, even when a lookout saw a pair of keelish flitting through the jungle just outside of reach. Then, where there was evidence of there previously having been battles with humankind, there still weren’t any keelish to be found. Varali ground her teeth as she saw locations where the earth had been ripped from the ground and used as armor, her mother’s specialty. And the den… was completely empty. After searching around, a second exit was found, this one showing a large quantity of tracks leading nearly due East.

The militia group had immediately set off upon seeing that the tracks were fresh. The leader, a middle-aged man named Yoharr, had participated in several successful keelish hunts before.

“Look, the Gran Verat knows what he’s talkin’ about. There’s a reason that he ordered the Great Purge all those years ago–if you let the bastards grow, they start actin’ like they’re the kings of the jungle. The beasties are trouble, and need t’be slaughtered. We can’t let ‘em escape, cause they’ll just make trouble for someone else. We’ll catch ‘em tonight, when they’re restin’ and huntin’, and that’ll be their final hour.”

The rest of the militia nodded severely–almost everyone here had had a friend slaughtered in the destruction of Varali’s home.

“Varali, thank you for your presence.” This was Hyaltur, the youngest son of Ytelli, soon to officially enter adulthood, just like Varali herself. Not quite a friend, but an acquaintance. “I wouldn’t have expected your companion was so powerful. After tonight, keep good care of her, she’ll help you ascend to being a true Speaker.”

Varali nodded and continued walking. Suddenly, a foreign thought: “He’s nice. He gives me food. That means he’s a good guy. You should stick with him.” Varali sighed and continued walking, before mentally replying, “Just focus on your Rousing Speech.”

“But I’m not talking. You should call it what I call it.”

“No.”

“Helpies!”

“No.”

“I won’t do it if you don’t say it!”

Varali internally cursed. “Wow, I don’t know most of those words, and I grew up on the streets.”

“... Helpies.”

“Will do!”

Fen began hopping throughout the marching files as Varali felt her feet lighten and her stride lengthen. Dulvroc take her, but Fen was useful.

…

It was nearing midnight when the militia found themselves approaching the place where the keelish would have had to set up camp. Varali kept a small flame hovering above her hand as they walked through the darkness. There were torches held by the sentries around the edges of the group as they stepped forward to slaughter the keelish menace.

The jungle was foreign, almost frightening in the torchlight. The burlraizes cast menacing shadows deeper into the thick jungle, the underbrush was thick and untamed, and the sounds of the forest were eerily absent. The militia platoon drew to a crawl’s pace and Varali stepped forward, drawing near to the front of the column, asking in a whisper, “Why have we stopped?”

A veteran she didn’t know leaned over, his eyes shifting, attentive to the forest, “Not sure, but whenever there’s something weird or unknown, you need to be careful you don’t get yourself killed. The jungle supports us, but would just as soon kill us.”

For a moment, the entire column shifted back and forth without progress. Nothing happened.

Finally, Varali couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “We need to go! They’re going to get away! This is where they were nesting, but they decided to leave. We need to hurry to catch up!”

“You’re… not wrong lass.” Yoharr responded. “Eyes and ears open, be ready for surprises.”

At her side, suddenly was Hyaltur who grabbed her hand and squeezed it. The sweat on his palms instantly soaked Varali’s own, but the feeling of support was immediately welcome for Varali.

The militia proceeded, weapons drawn and Phrases on their lips. A voice of a sentry began to ring out, “I see something up ahead!” but suddenly, there was a snap of a branch in the jungle. “HYAA!!” With a shout, Varali instinctively sent her small flame crashing towards the origin of the sound. With a bright flash, the flame exploded.

Nothing was there.

Nervous chuckles sprang up throughout the company and Varali felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. That was when the massive pillar of fire sprang into existence not 5m away from the front of the company.