Markus sat atop his war-bred kwach’a while looking at the column of soldiers behind him. It was only yesterday that he received the order to chase the rampant herd, but in that single day they made good time. Silently nodding to himself in approval, he saw the new recruits keep up with the pace, he peered at the horizon half-expecting the kwach’a herd to suddenly manifest. The kwach’a, like many other magical beasts, were tamable. They were big creatures, perfect for the northern taiga of Alir. At 2 meters tall, 3 meters long, and 500 kilogram the lizards were cold-blooded by nature, yet they had an inherent affinity for the Aspect of Metal, which allowed them to live in the cold northern taiga. Their two front arms did not form talons or claws but into scythes that allowed them to slash into their prey; which allowed their beaks to eat in small chunks. Their strong bi-pedal legs were short, wide, and strong, it allowed them to traverse the taiga easily. Their tail tapered into a sharp needle-point that was covered in a metallic sheen and it allowed them to skewer their opponents. The older the kwach’a was the more powerful it became; as the number of tails denoted this fact. The kwach’a that Markus was riding had been with him for his whole military career, its 3 needle-point tails swayed menacingly behind its rider—ready to strike.

Because of the remote location of Fort Winter and its relatively safe conditions, the garrison troops only had 500 cavalry units riding on kwach’as.

With a simple order, the troops stopped atop a hill with some rocky outcroppings nearby and had setup camp for the night. An easily defensible area against a kwach’a attack also meant that his own kwach’a cavalry was less effective, as their short stout powerful legs were not known to make them jumpers. While normal lizards were least active at night, this was not true for a kwach’a. As the Aspect of Metal coursed through the body and soul, it had allowed them to live comfortably within the northern taiga. This meant that an attack upon the camp during the night was quite feasible. After Markus observed the new recruits awkwardly and inefficiently go about their campground duties, he instructed his lieutenants and captains to oversee their training.

The next morning, Markus got up with the rising sun and mounted his trusty steed while keeping a keen eye on how quickly these new recruits struck camp. After a short period of time, Markus nodded in approval and the column of garrison troops made their way ever eastward.

After several hours of slowly marching, one of his advance kwach’a scouts rushed back towards the column. From the back of his kwach’a the scout reported, “Sir. The 300 remnant herd has been spotted southeast of our current position, about 20 kilometers. They’re moving directly westward sir.”

With a nod, the scout was dismissed and Markus turned to his 2nd in-command and after what seemed like a few hand signs, the whole column adjusted their position and began to intercept the kwach’a herd.

Off in the distance a haze of dust could be seen as the low rumble of the herd could also be felt, the garrison column directly barred its path and began to assemble into formation. Markus yelled and barked at the slow moving new recruits. Unlike bracing an attack from another standing army, when fighting against magical beasts there were not that many maneuvers Markus needed to consider. The kwach’a were quite limited in their abilities, and being that his trusted mount was also one, Markus was very familiar with their capabilities. Even if a magical beast could rival human intelligence—if powerful enough, their arsenal of attacks were well-documented.

As the herd was finally within sight of the garrison troops, a few of the new recruits felt like a heavy stone resided within their stomach, unsure of their safety while the veterans smirked at their shaking legs. Just as the herd approached within 500 meters, Markus gave a command and his order was relayed expertly along his battle lines.

The archers within his troops that practice the Aspect of the Bow imbued their arrows with power, allowing them to strike a few kwach’a at such great distances. Although strong in their own rights, there were only about three dozen archers with such capabilities. As the kwach’a herd continued to barrel towards the troops, a few collapsed while shrieking in death throes, more and more archers began to fire as the kwach’a enter their range. Finally within 100 meters, the first volley of magic erupted beside Markus. While blades of wind sheared through the herd alongside balls of fire and lances of ice, Markus noted that very little damage was actually done to the herd—which was to be expected. It wasn’t actually until he heard the crackle of lightening and the clap of thunder that a smile spread across his face. Because of their close affinity to metal, the kwach’as were extremely susceptible to the charged electricity of lightning. The arcs of lightning stunned a great many kwach’a for the archers to aim at, while other kwach’a were instantly dead upon impact.

When the herd was within 50 meters, Markus gave another order and his cavalry unit approached from the flanks. The tails of the kwach’a started to shimmer as their tail tips were now encased in hard iron spikes. After a few seconds the 500 kwach’a released these tail tips in unison. Each iron spike was about the 1 meter long and 10 kilograms, all flying towards the herd like a small ballista volley. The wild kwach’a herd acted on instinct and retaliated with their own iron spike volley, though not as coordinated and effective.

Before a second kwach’a volley could be exchanged, Markus was surprised to hear a loud SQUACK, then all of a sudden the remaining 100 or so kwach’a made an abrupt shift and headed directly south towards his cavalry unit, towards Markus himself. Readying himself for a melee, Markus gave the order for his troops to surround the herd while the southern cavalry unit engages. To his surprise, the kwach’a directly in front of him—apparently their leader, had 3 menacing tail spikes swaying behind it. “Ah, no wonder they seem so organized. None of the reports thus far mentioned an elder kwach’a,” Markus cursed.

Markus rode towards the herd with his double-edged battle axe shouting a battle cry. With his axe held high, he swung and cleaved the nearest kwach’a in half. While his master was killing, the kwach’a mount did not idle. It fiercely barraged a nearby kwach’a with its needle-like tail, looking for openings. The kwach’a tail strikes were relentless as they continuously struck the wild kwach’a nearby. The initial clash was one-sided. While the wild kwach’a herd was a force to be reckoned with, the battle-trained mounts could not be compared to their sylvatic counterparts. The battle mounts were well-fed, trained and equipped to handle a melee clash.

In the middle of the herd was a tall aged kwach’a with 3 menacing tails quickly striking at the soldiers while using its scythe to cut into as many men as possible. Many of the veterans around this kwach’a were bleeding and haggard as they tried to block its tail strikes. One veteran soldier was barely able to keep one of the tails in check while the other two were striking at one other soldier. The soldier fighting against two tails eventually got skewered as they approached him from two blind spots. After quickly killing the soldier, the kwach’a focused all 3 tails on the veteran. After gaining the attention of all 3 tails, the veteran quickly succumbed to the barrage and was killed. Seeing his soldiers die, Markus grit his teeth and charged headlong into the elder kwach’a.

Markus met the elder kwach’a within the melee, his own mount’s tails striking and defending against the other. While his mount defended him from some of the tail strikes, Markus cleaved and swung his battle axe at its head only to be met with the ringing of its scythes. Seeing his commander’s situation, Rubio the leader of the cadre of mages, gave the order to focus on the elder kwach’a.

Earthen spikes erupted from the ground to impale the kwach’a, but it broke and crumbled upon striking its skin. Shields of ice condensed within the air to block an errant tail strike, shattering upon impact while successfully blocking the strike. Two mages, friends from the same village, worked together and one of them formed a metal spike from a dead kwach’a body nearby, while the other condensed a miasma of poison within the air. After a few breaths the miasma further condensed into a liquid and coated the metal spike before it was thrusted into the stomach of the elder kwach’a. With a shriek and its attention distracted, Markus summoned the Aspect of the Axe and buried his weapon halfway into the kwach’a, from shoulder to stomach.

While still barely alive and poison coursing through its veins, the elder kwach’a struck at Markus in its death throes. With his axe buried deep within the kwach’a Markus could only bring up his arms to defend himself. Luckily, his mount was able to defend against two of the incoming tail attacks, while the third was blocked by a sudden formation of an ice shield. Without skipping a beat, Markus reclaimed his axe and turned away from the dead elder kwach’a to chase down the dispersing herd. With their leader dead, the kwach’a were running away in all direction.

Markus looked out at the battlefield and cursed the new recruits for their slow response, as there were still openings in their formation that allowed a few kwach’a to escape their encirclement. While most of his garrison troops were engaged in cleaning up the kwach’a in the middle of the formation, Markus dispatched small groups of riders to chase down errant kwach’a packs.

Two days prior, back at Golden Bark Village.

The wedding ceremony was well underway. Gaius was sitting next to his brother and parents as they watched the two families unite. The bride and her parents were up on the dais along with the groom and his parents.

Ken’s mother, Mary Hemuk said with a happy smile, “Kim has fulfilled her duty, and my husband and I will be honored to accept her as our daughter.”

Hugh and Dan Ogata, Kim’s fathers said, “Ken has fulfilled his duty, and my husband and I will be honored to accept him as our son.”

With the exchange of the two blessings from the families, Ken and Kim exchanged their personal vows to each other under the witness of the village and most importantly under their parents’ blessing. The ceremony came to an end quickly and the feast began. Immediately, loud upbeat music was playing to accompany eager dancers. Having starved themselves for this feast, Gaius and Gen bolted out of their seats to pile food onto their plates, while their parents snuggled in each other’s embrace whispering and giggling to each other. As the night wore on, Gaius found himself overfed and bursting with food, while his brother—after breaking out of his shy shell, tired himself from all of the dancing. Right as the feast was coming to a close, Sumi Loti the town shieldsmith roared, “Alright everyone! Time for the finale!”

Village Chief Hemuk, who was also the father of the groom, approached an empty plot of land with Sumi, Kumi, and Gaius’s father Duncan. Chief Hemuk shouted merrily, “As a new family within this village, we would like to bestow upon you a time-honored tradition. May this home serve you for many years to come!” and with that Chief Hemuk gave a slight nod.

Immediately afterwards, Duncan, Kumi, and Sumi began to wrap themselves in the Aspect of Wood. After a few minutes, the three of them projected their aura towards the Golden Bark saplings planted into the ground. Gaius, upon seeing this for the first time was in awe. The saplings were planted in a very specific pattern and as they were bathed in the Aspect of Wood, they started to germinate and grow rapidly before his eyes.

After several breaths, the saplings erupted quickly out of the ground but was molded by the aura of the three into odd angles and shapes. Instead of growing straight into the sky like a normal tree, the saplings bent at right angles and twisted into each other. After several minutes, the three of them stopped with sweat on their brow and heavy breaths. Within the empty lot now stood a house, which looked like every other home within the village—covered with a thick golden bark skin, seamless and organic as if the structure had existed for eons. It was then that Gaius and Gen realized that their home too, was built this way.

The home did lack for some furniture, but it had the essentials of beds, tables, chairs, stools, cabinets, and countertops that grew from the ground or the walls. It looked a bit different from their own home, but was still quite similar. With the house completed and their bedroom constructed, the villagers began to whoop and holler for the two to consummate, “Bed her! Bed her!” some chanted as others yelled, “Bed him! Bed him!” With that display of magic, the wedding ceremony came to a close.