I went out with Sania to keep an eye on the Malatian approach. Not only could she fly, which put her leaps and bounds above any of the other scouts we had, but she also had the best senses of any in Far Reach.

As she watched and took mental notes of the army's movements, I hovered uselessly beside her, unable to make anything out at all. But at least I was getting practice and of course, if anything happened to her, she wasn’t alone. Despite being the leader of Far Reach, that was the only reason I was there.

As I watched and waited. My mind wandered over to what Devotion's plan was. It seemed to me that a knee jerk reaction to our presence in the hills made little sense.

If she aligned with Natom, then only my capture would be worth the effort. If they aligned with Justice, then they would have told Justice of my existence, and I would have most likely had another visit from Ferro. Justice would just come and capture me if they knew where I was. Then there was the possibility that they remained Neutral, and they merely wanted to reclaim a part of their territory back, despite never using it or having any Malatian citizens up here.

But even so, they knew I was here. They knew I was still me, because Mal and Elsbeth would have told them, surely.

I knew Elsbeth and a whole host of the others could fly too, so why had no one even come to speak with us yet.

Whatever the answers were, I’d mentally exhausted myself by the time Sania told me we were heading back. Still no closer to an actual answer.

As we flew back, I marvelled at the wall construction. A hand full of dwarven builders worked alongside the residents of Far Reach during the day, and at night when they all rested another team of dwarves took over. Which basically meant every time I looked at the wall, it had grown noticeably. Almost all of the able-bodied residents now had a respectable level in the builder skill now, which would serve us well in years to come.

“I should probably help with the building work,” I said as we came in to land.

“I thought we planned to scout in the North too? Those Hycantha won't cull themselves you know,” she said. Hands on hips.

“I don’t much want to leave Far Reach at the minute as I’m fairly sure we’re gonna get an early visit from one of Devotions Followers and I don’t want to be anywhere close to Neuma fatigued when that happens.”

The light of understanding flashed in her eyes as I spoke. “That does make sense. We need to be at our strongest when we receive them. I’ll stay and work with you.” She said sourly.

It was hard not to laugh at her expression. “You really don’t like the building aspects of all this do you?”

“Not at all. It is not the Wultr way. But… I do love the living at a top of a strong castle surrounded by a strong wall facing the armies of our enemies and crushing them from a position of power,” she said slamming her fist into her hand with a grin.

“I do feel like we should be running some training drills with the people, if I’m honest. But then everyone is so busy and training drills are not exactly my forte.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Wultr don’t really need training drills and the people who came with Grigor know how to fight together instinctively by now. We may not have the magic of the Malatians, but we have the speed, power, determination and ferocity. I think they’ve underestimated us.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I do too. Especially with the five hundred dwarves who do have magic.

The days waiting for the Malatians to arrive slipped away too fast. Sania and I watched as they broke their last camp some ten mile away from us.

We’d discussed the possibility of going down to them, but threw the idea away. For whatever reason, they hadn’t sent anyone up to speak with us, so I wasn’t going to do the job for them. If they didn’t want to talk, that was fine by me. I just hoped that Mal had the sense not to be among them when they attacked. Though whether he had a choice with the way the bond of a follower worked, I didn’t know.

The information Darkness gave me on the subject was worrying. It was treating the people of this planet as little more than batteries and a toy soldiers and I didn’t wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

On our return, most people were sitting around the centre, eating breakfast and chatting. It was the first time the place wasn’t a hive of building activity. Joel and a few dwarven builders, were busy putting a few finishing touches on the walls, around the forested section and the whole place was a wonder to behold.

Our little walled town, complete with almost too lush forest, considering the temperature at this altitude and time of year. The Fensalfar didn’t seem to feel the temperature as they strode around their forest with only the strips of cloth, bead and tassels to cover their modesty.

Though as they emerged from the trees, they were not dressed that way now. Zeine escorted by Solla and Rella, led the rest of the Fensalfar out to join us in the center of town wearing pristine cloaks that only just swept the floor, yet seemed to remain immaculate. It gave them an ethereal quality. Seeming to float over the ground and across the stream.

Each of the approaching warriors held a long bow as tall as they were. They had no affectations or carvings adorning them, but I thought they looked great. Not that I had any experience whatsoever with bows. The only other thing of note was that they each carried a quiver, brimming with arrows. Moving smoothly they came to a halt in front of me. Zeine dropped his hood to reveal a confident smile.

“We are here to serve, my lord. Our arrows are yours.”

“Thanks Zeine, you all look fearsome. I’m glad your with us. May I have a look at your bow?”

“You may, though it will not fire for you or any other. It was crafted from my new heart tree by me, for me.”

“Don’t worry dude, I just want to moon over it. I can’t fire a bow for shit,” I said taking the bow with the reverence. I felt it deserved and inspected it.

Heart Bow of Zeine.

Rarity: Epic

Damage: Peirce: 80

Weight: 2lbs

Durability: 100

Attribute:

Extension of Zeine: A heart bow is made from the union of Fensalfar and their Heart tree providing unfaltering accuracy.

Nature’s Bounty: Combines with bound arrows to produce a charge of concentrated energy which when detonated produces a small but deadly explosion for an extra 100 damage.

Recharge: Thirty seconds between each empowered shot.

“That looks like a pretty damn remarkable bow to me, Zeine. So, you grew this, didn’t you?” I said handing the bow back over.

“I did. We all did. They are special weapons. My dearest hope is that I never lose this one again. I mourn my previous bow as I would mourn the loss of a loved one. I carried it for over one hundred years and the loss is painful.”

“A hundred years? Holy crap, I can imagine that hurt! Hopefully, we’ll never be chased from here, so they won't be lost or damaged.”

“Our bows were never lost. They died when our heart trees died. The forces who invaded our homes, made sure to destroy all of our beloved trees.”

“Ah shit mate, I hadn’t realized.”

“I feel better at our chances of defending our budding home this time. I dream that our trees and our family will be a pillar of Far Reach for years into the future.”

“Me to Zeine,” I said gently clapping him on the shoulder.

For the next couple of hours we lined the gap in the wall ready for the approaching forces I stood in the front line, Grigor, Feen, Kuhn and the rest of the strongest Wultr stretched away to my right with a space for Sania who currently stood on top of the castle watching for the arrival of the army. To my left stood Fakasta then Grastad and the rest of the Nystiobek warriors.

Directly behind us stood another line of Wultr with Krysan interspersed among them, followed by a line of Krysan.

I had wondered if Scralex would be upset by not having any of his warriors in the front row. It had been Grigor who had organized the lines, so I asked him.

I received a laugh in return. “Krysan in the front row. That is utter madness, Lord Clive. The only way Scralex would be upset would be if you did put his people in the front line.”

“Whatever you say Grigor. You Beast kin are a sensitive lot. I wouldn’t like to think we were stepping on anyone’s toes.”

“I suppose you are not used to fighting battles alongside Krysan. They are not frontline troops, But when you are pinned down and facing a powerful opponent, it is a Krysan you want standing behind you. They have an uncanny ability to slip around you and deliver very helpful assistance with their daggers or poisonous claws.

“Poisonous claws?” I asked quietly. Not wanting to showcase my ignorance any further. Why am I just hearing about this now.”

Grigor shrugged. “My apologies. There is so much that is just known, I forget you come from another world at times.”

“Well, now I know. If you can think of any other tidbits, I might need to be made aware of, then by all means, do tell.”

After a while of talking with those around me, we fell into a tense silence. Watching and waiting. It was almost a relief when Sania announced loudly from the top of the castle. “They’re coming!”

She jumped from the top of the eighty-foot castle catching herself smoothly halfway down to coast over to where I stood and land lightly by my side in an impressive display of control. There was still a twenty-minute wait before they appeared in our direct sight as we stared down the valley from where their army marched.

Once they came into sight, they stopped moving. Yet more waiting proceeded, and I was growing irritated. I half felt like charging down the bloody valley and just attacking. Though that would give up all of our planning and our position of strength.

“There are twenty of them approaching.” Sania said. I strained my eyes to make them out, but couldn’t see anyone. She pointed upward.

“Flying, Clive.”

“Ah,” I replied as the twenty figures grew slowly larger.

A minute later and I heard Sania hiss. “Elsbeth is among them.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, right?”

“No,” Sania replied a little coldly. “She is there. I would never mistake her.”

As they came into range enough so I could make out details, I recognised not only Elsbeth but the Mother from the Laurel temple of Devotion.

All of those present, wore light plate mail consisting only of a chest-plate, shoulder guards, vambraces, and greaves, which I thought was risky and offered far too many places to attack.

The sight of people I knew and had once put my trust in, now coming to attack, triggered my anger far more than I’d expected. I tried to smother it, wanting to deal with them in a cold, calm fashion.

“You really hate these people?” Grigor asked, obviously sensing my bubbling anger. Sania just grinned at me amused.

I struggled to answer how I felt about them at first, but as I brought my anger under control, the answer came.

“Not hate. Disappointment. They helped me when I first came here, and I thought it was because they were kind. But as things developed, I saw that they were playing their own game, much like everyone else here. I really wanted to believe in their goodness, but it was a façade.

Even when they left me in the forest after the transformation into this. They left as friends, to go and get help for me. I’ve heard nothing from them since and now, here they are, returning with an army.”

“I am not playing a game, my lord,” Grigor said earnestly.

“I know man. This is where I belong. This is where I have people I want to look after, and they want to look after me.” I found myself eyeing Fakasta as I spoke. He was watching the approach and didn’t notice the doubt in my eyes. I’d liked the dwarves and Darkness, but then I’d liked Devotion once too.

And now they were here with an army. They finally came to a halt above us, looking down on us in both the literal and metaphorical sense. It was the Mother who spoke. I’d had a sense she was leading this group and possibly even the full army.

“We meet again Clive. Though the circumstances are far from how I would have wished them to be. Why have set up an unsanctioned settlement with the lands of Malatia? This domain belongs to the followers of the Goddess of Devotion!”