The merciless sun lanced down on the rocky, mountainous terrain of northern Kelahk without any clouds to provide cover to the nature, people, or monsters below. Two long mountain ridges winded and spiked for miles on end in parallel, looking like the bones of some long dead, titanic serpent that nature had merely reclaimed after some calamity struck the beast down. The forest of emerald green trees that covered the mountains sported large patches and streaks of unnatural, pale grey that ruined the vista. As if some mould was sweeping through the area, draining all that it touched of colour – and perhaps life.

Nestled in one of the serpent’s lower, winding kinks was a small village of a few dozen buildings, thin wisps of smoke curling above the canopy as if signaling its existence to the hunting party that surveyed it. A small palisade of sharpened tree trunks stood erect around the village; no small feat given how few people seemed to live in the area. The distant sound of trees crashing drew the group’s attention, their tension releasing only somewhat when the falls occurred in rhythmic intervals. With the possible threat dismissed for the moment, they allowed their senses to take in the immediate surroundings: the burbling of the river their boat followed, the lush scents of the forest’s undergrowth, the clacking of wooden weapons and the grunting of two warriors sparring.

“Is that it?” Gazno asked, his deep voice pinched as he squinted hard towards the little village, a huge hand shielding his eyes from the sun and the sweat running down his forehead. A full kitahm, he was shaped like a human but towered over and out-girthed them even without his iron scale armour on. A large iron shield sat beside him on the boat as he leaned over the prow for a better look, his free hand resting on the head of the crow-bill he kept as a weapon.

“Aye,” Jax replied from beside him, taking another puff from his smoking pipe. The older man was tall for a human, but was dwarfed by his companion. Where Gazno was swollen with muscles, Jax was wiry; where Gazno was heavily armed and armoured in iron, Jax preferred a light padded jack, bow and hunting knives crafted from the hides and parts of monsters; where Gazno was young and unmarred, Jax’s many years in the Hunter Corps had toughened his tattooed skin into a scarred, leathery hide.

A short, stout man crashed beside them with a shouted curse and the jangling of heavy armour, making Gazno jump. The giant's arms wheeled as his body threatened to tip into the water, but, blowing out a ring of smoke, Jax grabbed the back of the giant’s weapon harness and shifted his weight to pull the yelping Gazno back onto the river boat. The old man took another puff from his pipe as if nothing had happened.

“Seven protect,” Gazno breathed, turning to the person on the ground next to him, “You nearly killed me!”

“Shaya nearly killed me!” Pelark retorted, stabbing a finger at her as she approached.

“I guess we’ll call it there,” Shaya said, smiling down at her defeated opponent. She clasped his forearm and helped him up, a manacle and chain made entirely of hardened light still attached to his leg. “You were doing well until I tripped you with my spell.”

“I didn’t realize your casting had gotten so fast!” Pelark said.

“Oh, it hasn’t. I drew in the aether before we started sparring. You really shouldn’t have let me Invoke my Esper before the match started.”

“Th-that’s cheating!” Pelark fumed, grabbing his practice sword from the boat’s deck.

“Always cheat, always win,” she laughed, clapping him on the back. “The only unfair fight is the fight you lose.”

The smaller man snorted. “Have you no honour?”

“Of course,” she retorted, “when it comes to the values I uphold, I’ll go to any lengths to keep them unassailable! Wouldn’t you do the same for anything you believed in, when it came down to it?”

“No, of course not! A person is their honour!”

Shaya shrugged, “That’s between you and the gods, then. But the God of Justice and Honour hasn’t smitten me to ash yet.”

“Oh, she’ll get to you and your wicked ways soon enough.” Lorral chimed from the back of the boat, where the woman steered it. The family resemblance between her and Jax was unmistakable, even including similar tattoos.

“Unlikely,” a gravelly voice cut in, “Astoria is also the God of Wisdom and War, she values insight and cunning in battle as much as courage and loyalty.”

“See?” Shaya gestured to her Arms Master, “If Krebo and I agree on something, it must be true.”

Krebo gave her an unamused quirk of his brow before responding. “You shouldn’t cheat so lightly, however. Garnering that reputation devalues it as a strategy, and it is often something that only works against an opponent once.”

“Duly noted, Arms Master.” Shaya replied with a grin. “If only more of your advice encouraged cheating...”

Krebo ignored her provocation and addressed Jax instead, “How long until we reach Kytris?”

“A few hours at most,” the scout replied.

“Good, plenty of time to teach my apprentice some humility,” Krebo said, a hint of a smile flickering across his face.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, given that we’re investigating monster sightings here?” Shaya replied, a hint of pleading entering her voice as she continued, “Maybe you could teach me how to better use my Amber magic instead?”

“Magic isn't always the answer, I don’t want you to become too reliant on it. Sometimes raw strength can get the job done better, and faster, ” Krebo replied, “Besides, I’m sure the bruises will heal by the time we reach Kytris. If not, anyone brave enough - or stupid enough - to live this far from reclaimed territory will have poultice we can get you while we’re there. Or Lorral can practice her Jade magic on you.”

Shaya sighed, but the rest of her company chuckled at the pain she was about to endure.

+++

Shaya’s bruises did not, in fact, heal by the time their river boat pulled up to a shore a short walk from Kytris. The dock was large enough for a single heavy barge to pull up to it, but only a few small fishing boats sat on the rocky shore, tethered to sturdy-looking outcroppings or boulders. Just up the river from the docks stood a saw mill, the most likely reason for the village to exist in the first place.

Despite signs of people making a living here, however, there was no sign of them in the area. No fishermen tended to their nets and no lumberjacks carried wood to the sawmill. No children ran about playing and no one came to greet them as they pulled up.

“Throne above,” Shaya groaned, strapping equipment to her harness: a longsword, dagger, and set of manacles. “I’m going to have use my magic just to ignore this pain. Did you have to shatter the sword against my ribs? I think you broke something.”

“Aye,” Krebo replied, hopping over the side of the boat and tying it off on an available rock, “hopefully I broke you of the habit of leaving your side exposed.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely what I’m referring to.”

“Stop shifting,” Lorral chided, standing next to Shaya. “I’m still new to this.”

“Deep breath,” Jax instructed his daughter, “Let the moment wash over you, be present in it.”

The short woman did as instructed, closing her eyes as she did so. The tattoos running across her body, visible where her light armour didn’t cover her face and hands, began to glow with a dim, Jade light. Seconds passed and the glow intensified then faded, then intensified again as Lorral struggled to stay in tune with the Jade aether.

“Don’t get frustrated,” Jax said, “Clear your mind, no pressure.”

“Well,” Shaya said, “Some pressure, I’d like these ribs to-”

“Shh,” Lorral opened her eyes to glare at her friend. Jade aether bloomed in her irises, standing out against her otherwise plain, brown eyes.

Shaya shushed and practiced patience, once again watching Lorral’s tattoos glow as she drew in more and more Jade aether. As more energy entered her, Lorral’s ears twitched as her senses heightened and her eyes flicked to distant movement they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to pick up. It took her close to a minute to draw in the required amount to fuel even her basic healing spell, but Shaya could sympathize. While she was no longer an absolute beginner, she wouldn’t call herself an adept just yet – at least not honestly.

“Good,” Jax nodded with pride, “Now take the aether and shape it into the spell’s circuit.”

Lorral’s brow knitted with frustration, “I can’t, it just wants to go everywhere.”

“Jade aether needs to be coaxed into the shape we want it. Be patient with it, don’t try to force it.”

Seconds later, the Jade light flowed from Lorral’s tattoos and entered Shaya. The larger woman sighed, feeling her blood warm and flow around her injured ribs. The pain fled her body, to be replaced with mere fatigue and general soreness.

She opened her eyes and saw Lorral looking at her, her healer’s eyes already back to their Jade-less brown. Shaya grinned and gave Lorral a quick hug. “Thanks, you did great! I’m good as new – just a bit sore.”

“Nothing a good meal won’t fix,” Gazno chimed in with enthusiasm, “I hope they have some nice, juicy meat here! Do you think they have goat? I could eat a whole goat!”

“One can hope,” Shaya replied, but stopped and sniffed at the air. “Does anyone else smell that?”

Her companions looked around in confusion, then Jax cocked his head. “Smoke.”

“Lots of it.” Shaya nodded, “Let’s move, something is awry.”

“Maybe they’re just smoking lots of meat?” Gazno asked, begging the gods.

“It doesn’t smell like that kind of smoke, Gaz,” Shaya replied, belting on her longsword before grabbing her halberd and leaping onto the rocky shore. “And I think I hear screaming in the distance.”

“Will we make it in time?” Lorral asked as the group started jogging toward the small village.

“I hope so, best you and Jax go on ahead, you’re in lighter armour. Recon the area and help out if you can.”

The two scouts nodded and ran ahead, bows in hand. They reached the first of the sporadic buildings in a few seconds and disappeared a heartbeat later. The remaining four - all heavily armoured by comparison - reached the village less than a minute later. Without the forest canopy in the way, it was easy to spot the columns of smoke rising into the sky and hear people shouting. The squad rushed towards those markers, slowing to approach with their weapons at the ready.

Four wood and thatch houses sat at the edge of the village, fire roaring as it devoured them. People of all ages formed organized lines to ferry buckets from a small well, trying to prevent the fire from spreading further. Despite their best efforts, the fire had consumed two of the buildings already and was making inroads on the third, with a fourth building within reach of the licking flames.

“Shaya!” Lorral called, jogging back towards the group, “It’s all clear, the monsters fled before we even arri-”

Her words were interrupted by a thunderous crack as one of the burning building’s supports buckled, and it threatened to tip over. Shaya dropped her halberd and sprinted toward the building as people cried out in alarm. The building groaned as it began to lean, threatening to spill over and spread the fire. Before it could, Shaya skidded to a halt next to the building and braced against the support to keep it from snapping under its own weight.

She gritted her teeth as the smoke stung her eyes and the fire licked through her gloves. “Gaz!” she rasped before coughing, muscles straining to keep the building from collapsing further.

Her giant-blooded friend rushed up to support her, the two straining to hold off the collapse for as long as possible.

I wish someone had decided to teach me some magic to help with this!

Shaya turned her head to the gawking villagers, “Wet the other house! Don’t let a spark ignite it!”

They blinked, but did as they were told.

“Gaz, shove with me - we need to push this thing over to the other side. On three!”

The big man nodded, and the two of them dug their feet into the rocky soil as she counted down. On three, they both pushed with all their strength, the building creaking as the wood was forced a different direction. It didn’t budge though, still desperately trying to collapse on top of them.

“Keep pushing!” Krebo shouted from the other side of the house. He held his flanged mace in two hands, winding up his swing as if practicing for some sport.

“Any time Krebo!”

Confident after his practice swings, the big man stepped towards the house and swung. The mace whooshed through the air and smashed into the opposing support. There was a resounding crack as the charred wood splintered and gave, bending around his mace as the building’s weight fell upon it. With a roar, Shaya and Gaz continued to shove the building and this time it collapsed towards Krebo, who moved aside as he followed through with his swing.

He walked towards them, dusting off his mace, and looked down at the part-giants as they bent over, coughing and heaving in air. “Tsk. You two need to work out more.”

Shaya coughed some more, then chuckled. “Fuck you, Krebo. Now teach me some more gods damned magic.”