Kailu gazed down at the forest’s edge, turning into hills and sparse foliage before the mountain’s foot, up above where he lay. Hiding amongst rocks and wearing his black cloak, turned upside down to hide the bright insignia at the centre, he studied the terrain before him.

Memorizing the highs and lows, the potential cover and paths to stalk around for ambush and flanking.

Then his gaze moved to the trees, where beyond he knew a fleeing people lay. Where she might also lay.

He wanted to go after her, he wanted to find her and leave this place, to hell with it all she was his charge…Where his loyalty should have laid…But how could he? How could he abandon these men and women who put their very hopes in him?

Clenching his fist about the stone, he pondered over where his true loyalties lay.

A people he had only met these past two years?

Or his people, his future empress, and the daughter of his saviour?

Feeling torn in two, Kailu barely noticed the long moments pass by, he barely noticed Rain creep up and crouch down next to him, waking out of his daze only as Rain grabbed his shoulder.

“Captain, we…we found something.” Rain whispered.

“Found? What?” Kailu asked, coming out of his thoughts, yet unable to put them aside.

“Your…name.” Rain said, much to his own and Kailu’s confusion.

“What the hell does that even mean?” Kailu snapped back.

“I…wish I knew, just…come. It’s easier to just show you.” Rain sighed, tapping his back before sneaking up the outcrop and out of sight.

With his curiosity more than peaked, Kailu followed, stalking after Rain’s quick and shadowy form until they reached a rocky path taking back down the mountain side and into another part of the mountain’s foot where a sparser forest began.

“What exactly did you find?” Kailu asked, catching up with him.

“One of our hunters, Nikolai, stumbled upon a cave whilst out.” Rain explained as he lead him along the mountain’s edge, “It’s completely out of the way and with no construction or sense of someone having lived there anywhere nearby. We checked very carefully, there’s no sense in it being a trap either, the cave is not very deep and the entrance is very large.”

“With her…you never know.” Kailu grumbled, “But then again, that is more her bastard minion’s taste. We should stay alert, Gon could have set this up if just to locate us somehow.”

“Agreed, which is why I set up several scouts all around the cave, we’ll know they’re coming before they do.” Rain assured.

“Fine, show me.” Kailu said, and Rain lead him further, reaching a low cliffside with a concave front, almost perfectly semi-circular. As Rain approached Nikolai who awaited nearby, Kailu immediately realised this was no cave.

Inspecting the shape, and with his senses flaring at the mere sight of it, Kailu had zero doubts.

“What do we have here Nik?” Rain asked approaching the hunter.

“No idea, it’s not natural, but I don’t see any tool usage either.” Nikolai grumbled, bamboozled by the thing behind him.

“It was magic,” Kailu then said, approaching the ‘cave’. “It wasn’t carved, the stone was simply disintegrated. Imagine an explosion of magic so intense that the unaffected stone around it was left completely and entirely smooth, whilst the rest simply ceased to be.”

“That’s…insane.” Rain mused, as the both of them turned towards it, pushing past several bushes to then find themselves within the alcove and immediately facing a wall.

With the night sky above it was barely visible, but as Kailu approached…it made itself visible.

Letters, carved out in blood red and glowing a fierce gold, the name ‘Kailu’ lay radiating before them.

“What in the actual fuck is this?” Rain asked, each of their eyes having fully widened at the reaction.

“Did it…do this before?” Kailu asked.

“No, hell no, that’s a first too!” Nikolai exclaimed.

“Everyone stand back,” Kailu said, “Back!” He ordered and they complied, retreating back to the treeline as he stood facing the engraving.

Runes

Kailu thought. Approaching the name to find smaller inscriptions making it up, hidden behind the light.

But what are they for? Just to expect my approach and signal that it was set for me? No…there’s more, much more…I don’t recognise half of these!

Kailu grumbled to himself, yet seeing runes of the physical and blood type, he knew what he had to do to find out more.

“You two, head back to camp, I don’t know what the radius of this will be but…There’s only one way to figure out what it’s for.” Kailu called out, “I’ll have to touch the inscription, something will activate, do you want to get caught up in whatever it is?”

“Do you?” Rain asked back with a raised brow.

“This was left here for me…I don’t sense any malicious intent in the imbued mana, but something about these runes…Go, and don’t come back unless I return first.” Kailu told them.

“And what if you don’t?” Rain then asked, gesturing for Nikolai to back away, he instead remained.

“Hah, you foolish human…” Kailu chuckled, “Fine, watch, I won’t weep if you die.”

“I never expected you to.” Rain chuckled too, “Only to lead me, sir.”

Kailu sighed as he began raising his palm towards the inscription, the light growing brighter the closer he got.

Until finally, his fingers caressed the carved stone.

A flare of magic burst forth from the contact, engulfing Kailu and then Rain whole, surrounding them with light, yet everything else within was as dim as night.

Kailu stepped back quickly and watched as the rune’s lights formed into one before suddenly flowing out of the stone.

Dark light burst out of the wall, taking shape before him. A sphere of dark crimson, gold and white, like shadow yet not…

The sphere unfolded into twelve long furry tails, revealing a figure amidst them…

The figure rose, grinning cockily as he faced Kailu who stood astounded and alert, ready to fight.

“Fear not little Xilfir, I come, as they say, in peace.” Said the fox in Elven, startling Kailu further.

Kailu inspected the creature, with twelve long red and white fox tails coming out of its lower back and engulfing it from behind, it was a lanky man with thin features in full view due to being completely naked. Only covered up by some of its own tails.

Seemingly past his golden years, the fox was approaching elderly. Yet his hair was a mixture of dark fiery red and snow white, with no greying or loss what so ever. His eyes too, piercing blue with blood red slits, full of vitality alongside the mocking smirk.

“Who…are you?” Kailu growled, shadows rising about his body.

The fox merely chuckled at the display of hostility, “A friend of a friend, you have met my brother no? Well, a what fragment of him I managed to save and seal within that scythe.”

“Z…Zeokul?” Kailu exclaimed.

“Ah, yes, that is the name you would know him by. It was only his devil part that survived after all…Heh.” The fox mused, before suddenly opening his arms wide, “I, am known as Kyllix,” The fox announced in common as he bowed dramatically. “Although, I am merely a fragment of the being known as Kyllix, sealed here for three reasons.” Rising back up to meet Kailu’s eyes as recognition now filled them. “One, to keep this timeline going, a bandage you could say to counter what my true self is on the path of doing. And two? Well to meet you of course, Kailu Xilfir, wielder of the Dread Scythe Z, Reaper.”

Kailu’s eyes narrowed, he had heard of this being, from both teacher Nerrick and Erikathyr himself. “Why? Why did you wish to meet with me? How do you even know my name?” Kailu then asked also in common.

Kyllix chuckled, “Why? I know your name, I have always known, after all it is I who set it so that your life leads to this moment in time. I made the Scythe, from the fragments of my dear brother, and sent it to you through the river of space and time.”

“No…Master Erikathyr gave me the-” Kailu snapped back.

“No, I found the Scythe after sending it through the void, fate made it so that it landed in Erikathyr’s world. Using it, I gained access to Faetera, and lured Erikathyr to the scythe in his younger days.” Kyllix explained. “It is all very complicated, so I will save you from the details. Alas, I have little time to explain what I need to, so I shall keep that short also.”

Suddenly everything around them turned dark, a foggy grey surrounded them and permeated through Kyllix’s form, making him ethereal. “All stories have one common thing, young Xilfir, they end. My end came, Erikathyr’s approaches, even ours worlds will at one point end. Everything ends, big and small, everything dies.” Darkness and light rippled all around them, flowing out with the crimson and white tails which danced about like smoke.

“But the only true finally of death, is to have never lived in the first place. Young Kailu, I give you one task, and one task only going forward.” Kyllix exclaimed, as the world around Kailu seemed to bend and warp. “Live, as you were once reborn through the hands of your saviors. Live as Erikathyr and Zeokul. The stage I set it for you, now go my actor! Your audience awaits you beyond this mountain.”

“Play it, play the melody he bestowed upon you.”

“A tune of darkness, a song of shadow.”

“Play it.”

The ground beneath Kailu suddenly disappeared, and he fell.

“Play his melody of death.”

Down Kaily fell, deep into the depths of an unknown abyss.

Until suddenly he opened his eyes, rising abruptly and pushing off a woman who was looking him over, finding Rain and many others surrounding his fallen form.

“Holy shit, you’re awake!” Rain exclaimed, surprise and joy filling each of their expressions as they met his gaze of confusion.

“W-What…happened?” Kailu asked.

“I-I don’t…know?” Rain said, “You touched the runes, the light faded, and you passed out.”

Kailu raised his hand to his forehead as a throbbing pain filled it, “The fox…where…where did that damn fox go?”

“Fox? Man you really got hit by some bad juju back there didn’t ya?” Nikolai mused with a chuckle.

“It was…all in my head?” Kailu said with a groan, as slowly the headache subsided.

Rain kneeled down next to him, “Captain, you’ve been out for two days, we thought we lost you.”

“T-Tw-Two days!?” Kailu exclaimed, suddenly rising out from under the sheets, butt-ass naked much to the girl’s enjoyment, he quickly and frantically began dressing up.

“Ca-Cap!-Captain!” Rain called out trying to calm him down, “The fight has already begun, we’re too late to set up with the Lycans but we can-”

“The fight’s begun!? What the fuck have you all been doing then!?” Kailu exclaimed, beginning to put on his leather armor.

“We were just about to leave, but I figured it was worth the while checking on you one last time.” Rain said melancholically, to which Kailu paused.

“I see…The fox really set this all up.” Kailu mused to himself.

Then might I die today? He told me to live, but it sounded more like guidance than…fact.

Kailu sighed.

Ah, I get it. He didn’t want me to run.

Turning then to his comrades at arms.

He wanted me to fight alongside them…

Kailu approached Rain then, resting his hand over the man’s shoulder.

I’m sorry friend, for ever thinking of abandoning you all…The fox is right.

“Let us go then,” Kailu said out loud, “Let us join the fight!”