He was running desperately from that shining form.

The man had blown from town to town for weeks and had been thrown out of every gambling hall for being too lucky.

Yet the owners could not actually prove he had cheated in some way and the less investigators sniffing around the better, so they let him go with just bruises.

Unfortunately for them, he did not go there to win, he was just a probe.

Once inside he could look over the wards and array to find out how the rest of his gang could break in.

Nobles more often than not looked down on public betting and kept to their private halls, but they left them open because each coin that traded hands was still going to be taxed.

Anyone stealing from such a place was not just stealing from a business or private citizens, they were stealing from the noble who controlled the area by extension.

The shining form moved through the trees more quickly than him, had he not gotten a head start he would’ve been caught already.

It slid across the ground and the dirt softened like water for a moment, the man was now stuck up to his knees in the ground.

“BREKEN, I GOT HIM.”

He was already behind her however, he hadn’t talked to Harlan, but still he got a simple golem armor that let him move faster than he could before.

It had nothing quite like Ava’s, but it was certainly better than what he had before.

“Good work, you’ve really gotten the hang of that thing. I can just remember when you were cracking trees with your head.”

“Hey, everyone had trouble with hover when they first learned how to use it.”

“Yeah, but I got it after an hour, you took a week.”

The man was trying to dig himself out while they were distracted.

Yet Ava shot a fireball that clipped the man’s ear to show that they knew exactly what he was doing.

“I have committed no crimes, I was simply on my way to see my family. My daughter is very ill you see, so I-”

“If you don’t stop right now I’m going to break your jaw. Tell your bullshit sob story to somebody dumb enough to actually believe it. Tell us where the rest of your gang is and you’ll get a lighter sentence. If not, we will just string you all up.”

“Now, surely such a beautiful young woman wouldn’t want to resort to violen-”

She kicked his exposed knee and it bent the wrong way.

The man screamed in pain but she felt nothing.

One thing that she didn’t understand was Harlan’s weird stance on torture.

Violence came as easy as breathing for him, but he hated crossing that line.

She was ignorant of how he invented the communication devices, though they weren’t yet public at this point anyway.

“YOU BITCH.”

She slapped him with enough strength to dislocate his jaw.

“Ava, that was over the line.”

Breken walked over to set the jaw and then heal it.

“I’m very sorry about her, you know how nasty nobles can be. Please, how about I help you out and you help me out before things get worse.”

The man laughed.

“Really? You think that little routine is going to work on me.”

“You’re right, that was naive of me. Ava, get the pliers, and remember this time, pull the teeth quickly and then sear the wounds. I don’t want another one drowning in his own blood.”

Ava just sighed and pulled them from a pouch on her cloak.

She never actually drowned a man in his own blood nor had she ever pulled teeth, but the ruse worked perfectly.

“Wait wait wait wait.”

She was still walking to him.

“WAIT, I’LL TALK, I’LL TALK, DON’T LET HER DO THIS TO ME. HEY.”

She pretended to act disappointed as she slipped them back in her pouch.

The man sung like a canary and they would hit the locations with fire and fury.

The ranger sat on a stump and pet his dog as he ate his breakfast.

It was a simple flatbread with whatever plants in the area smelled good and weren’t poisonous.

He ran out of salt a week ago and he was thinking it was about time for a restock on everything he had.

He had been considering just quitting, buying out his contract, settling in a town near his sister.

Maybe even working for his nephew, though he found that idea somewhat funny.

On the way back to a town that could actually restock him he found a village under attack by orcs, void this time.

After a hard fought battle he was covered in blood and guts, the armor had only a minor ward to keep these things off of him since it was considered not very important.

His dog was dragging the injured away from the middle of the street and sorting them by severity for his master.

There was a young boy grasping a stump where his leg once was.

The void at least made the cut clean, easy to stabilize him long enough to make sure everyone was safe and he hadn’t missed any before he went back to heal him.

He had black hair, couldn’t be more than 10, he never understood how people could justify bringing their young children with them to set up out here.

When the boy regained his consciousness he asked for his father and the woman in the room just shook her head.

Gone in the attack she said.

The ranger returned to the wilds with a full refill on his knives and salt and whatever else he requested.

The only thing he didn’t go back with was regrets over staying out there.

Shadow issued threats of violence towards her sister, Wind relented after being pointed at another person with the passion she wanted.

Within Reino a young girl walked the halls of her palace as her predecessors did while trying her hardest to act as was expected of her.

“I need those reports on the boy, Harlan Fomoria, why is he a guest of honor for a gala? They didn’t even invite him to the end of war gala despite his efforts being instrumental.”

“Your Holiness, it would seem the boy lacks decorum and social skills. Mixed with his several times noted wild mental state the king likely decided it best to not invite him.”

“Weaknesses?”

“Young girls. Otherwise he is physically and magically far above his age. I have reports of him as the apprentice of Dust, and he often spars with a Golden, aged 18, Liat of the White Sands.”

“Young girls? I thought you said in a previous report that he showed neither lust nor romance towards others?”

“Allow me to explain more clearly. He seems to easily attach himself to those who remind him of his older sisters. Though from a single report of him being sent to threaten an upperclassman and then failing, it is possible he simply has an affinity towards children as he sees them as being innocent. Our attempts at gaining anything from the academy counselor have not provided any more information on his mental state, but we believe he has entered a calm. There have been no reports of violence from him in some time and he seems to help out nearly anyone who asks something of him provided it does not conflict with his morals or time with his other acquaintances.”

“Then I will play the child for him, whatever it is that Yggdra is trying to sell me with a private meeting with the boy I want. I suppose it is best that I have not made it clear how I act and he isn’t likely to know anything about me past my speech at the academy announcing our loss.”

“Very well, Your Holiness.”

“And tell the guards sent with me to dress as ambassadors, no weapons.”

“Is that wise? If he does do something against you, well, you are neither physically nor magically powerful.”

“I have faith that he will not lay a hand on me unless I give him a reason to. I might need a guard to provoke him to test his reaction.”

“Very well, Your Holiness.”

She retreated to her room for the night and her maids undressed her and then put on her nightgown for her before leaving her to sleep.

A year ago she lived as the daughter of a farmer in the 4th ring, she never went hungry but she had little excess comforts, the few friends she had were back there and she would likely never see them again.

When the voice told her that she had been chosen she thought it was a blessing, and it has been in some ways.

She lived in a castle, servants took care of her every need, she was taught all about politics and history and after she was ready she would learn magic as well, farmers didn’t get taught magic she thought.

But she was having a hard time getting along with the other children around her, she was treated as a ruler and never as a friend, but inside she knew how they felt.

Their emotions, their thoughts, all of it was laid bare in front of the girl and she was not of an age or mind to understand or accept the world.

The month passed and she would finally meet him.

On the outside he tried to carry himself as best as he could and yet she saw him quite differently.

He was a blank slate, a thing of shadows stood next to a woman of light in an equally blank state.

Then the woman looked at Peace and she felt something was wrong with that, yet she did not know her power enough to understand why it was wrong.

He spoke with some kindness towards her that was genuine, yet when her guard did as asked the shadows grew claws and gnashing teeth that were waiting to sink into flesh as it spoke in violence and blood.

When she saw him next, the shadow had taken the form of a sheep that curiously look at her.

Then after she was done speaking, the sheep revealed rows of dagger teeth in a threatening smile.

Even still, she did not feel the threat was for her, so she simply observed him more.

She did not understand him, to her he seemed like a beast being kept in chains, just waiting for a chance to tear apart those around him for any reason.

Yet when he danced with that girl, she saw him as little more than a pup chewing through ropes that bound her.

She wanted to pick him apart, to find what made him tick.

The voice wanted it as well, to understand her enemy.

The ranger trudged through the deep snow, barely able to see more than 15 feet ahead of him..

This year he was spending a winter in the north, it was technically not part of the frontier, but the whole area was so sparsely populated and open that rangers still needed to patrol it.

It was hard to get his bearings sometimes, he was a barely trained divinationist and he lost his compass and map to a passing fight between a pair of Wyverns who burnt his camp and nearly him.

That was another issue that somebody needed to deal with.

His dog barked loudly and a strange feeling washed over him as he saw the faint lights in front of him.

He didn’t know which village it was, or why people bothered enduring the hellish weather, but he was glad that they did so he could meet somebody.

He could tell there was some kind of magical effect in the area to make the wind less biting and to divert the snow somewhat.

His goggles once again cleared themselves as he walked to the first house he could still see still lit candles inside, he had the right to do so, but it was generally a bad idea to ask to sleep in the house of somebody you’ve just pissed off by waking up.

He could barely tell what the woman looked like, her eyes were clearly in late stages of cataracts with their milky white appearance like a fluffy clouds.

She pulled him inside and lowered her scarf to speak.

“Do you need something? Nobody should be out with the storm as bad as it is.”

“I just need a warm place to sleep, food if you have any, Wyverns burned my equipment.”

“Poor thing, I’ve got warm cider on the fire. I’ll grab the leftover soup I had earlier from the cold room and put it back on.”

“Thank you very much. And, do you have anything for my dog?”

He reached down to scratch the head of his pet.

“I’ll grab something from the bone pile.”

“Thank you again.”

“These are harsh lands, especially for us, it is always nice to have a friend among others.”

The ranger sat in a rocking chair and waited for the elderly woman to come back.

He trusted people, generally speaking, but the north was as harsh as anywhere else and sometimes he had been met with a very cold shoulder.

So he scanned the room with his eyes to see if he could gather anything else.

A human skull was on her bedside table, painted and adorned with a locket, he could barely make out that a name was inscribed on the forehead along with a birth and death date.

It wasn’t the first time he saw something like this.

In the winter months where the ground was too hard to dig in the bodies would instead be left to the elements while the bones would be brought back to be washed and whitened before being decorated to either be kept or buried when the spring finally came.

The woman returned and set the pot on a hook to sit over the fire.

He sipped his cider, having checked that it wasn’t poisonous while she was away.

She sat on the chair next to him.

“It has been a long time since we last had a visitor. Do you intend to stay?”

He realized that his badge was covered by the extra pelts he was wearing.

“Ranger Redmond Fomoria. Just need to stay until the storm settles down.”

The woman froze.

“What did you just say?”

He believed her hearing was just going out in her old age.

“Ranger Redmond Fomoria.”

She sat in silence.

“Strange name, I’ve rarely heard of a noble ranger.”

“Well, I was a ranger before I got the name, and I got it from my nephew.”

“Really? Is there any meaning to it?”

“Never heard of the Fomorians? I guess if you guys have been out of the news you wouldn’t know. But he is one.”

“Don’t tell me what a Fomorian is, and how can that even make sense, we can’t leave our lands. And you are no Fomorian.”

The gears in his head started turning very quickly.

‘We can’t leave our lands.’ ‘especially for us’ ‘it is always nice to have a friend among others’

These were normal statements, but not in this context.

Her eyes started flashing, soulspeak.

It didn’t take more than 5 seconds before the room became very full as warriors with machete in hand came in.

“Why don’t we talk tomorrow. When the sun is up.”

The warriors were on standby the entire night, Redmond didn’t get a wink of sleep, but Cu seemed overly passive, not even a bark or a glance at their captors, he slept without a care.

The woman got out meat that was hung outside to freeze and began making another soup.

“I know you’re awake.”

“I know you know. Can’t really hide that from one of you.”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot. I was… shocked, to hear what you said last night. But, after some dreamwalking I’ve decided you seem kind enough. Your hound thinks so at least. But what I did not see was a Fomorian boy. I need some answers.”

“I got Cu last year, he never met Harlan, I had him sent to an army dog training camp for a month when I last saw him.”

“Then you should have no issue holding my hand for a moment to see if you are lying to me.”

She reached over toward him and Cu leapt awake to nip at her fingers.

The warriors did not react.

“Down, beast, I command you, down.”

Cu whimpered as her commands tried to make him obey, he was not an ordinary dog, none of his breed were, yet he could not resist her magic for long.

Redmond tried to draw his sword and found himself bound by the warriors in an instant, he could feel their cold grasp, see their dead eyes up close.

“I am not here to fight you, if you managed to reach this place then you have something from my people. I demand to know what and how.”

Every instinct tried to tell him not to let her touch him, he had seen children as young as 6 kill grown men with just a few moments of contact to destroy their souls.

Yet he stopped struggling, the crone’s empathy calming his nerves.

Soon many others arrived at the home.

Eventually Redmond was let up and he started answering their questions.

After a month they decided to let him leave with some assurances.

Cu was left behind as a hostage, though it was more of a gesture than a real threat.

Both sides wanted this to work out.

When he got back to an outpost things got hectic very quickly, not just because they were 2 days away from marking him as MIA.

First an assault team with golems was going to be deployed, then they were being held in reserve, then finally a gate mage was brought over and he needed to report directly to somebody higher up who could report to the king.

Ambassadors took the place of the dog as the hostages until their request was answered one way or another.

The girl awoke with tears in her eyes, she had another nightmare.

Being born able to see mana was not all good, the children would often be overly sensitive, not unlike when people first sensed.

Some grew out of it in days, some took years.

Every sound was a boom and every light was a flash, the wind was painful.

The house was large but not overly so, her great great grandfather was a rich man but she didn’t see him much.

At 2 years of age it was no small feat to reach the door handle and then walk the halls, so she knocked on the door and waited for the night guard to guide her.

Yet there was no reaction, she knocked again and again.

Eventually she pulled a footrest to the door to reach the handle and then found the door would not open.

So she banged on the door louder and louder, the slamming of her little hands and the sound of her own crying were painful to her but the fear was worse.

Eventually she heard someone outside.

She could hear the muffled, angry voices, but she did not understand the words yet.

Then their axes came down on the doors, the wards held fast, mundane muscle, even from a beastkin, was not going to harm it without a great deal more effort.

Yet while they had effort, they did not have time.

She heard screams and smelled burned flesh.

Her great grandfather opened her door and took her away.

From the outside she saw her home was burning but did not understand what it meant.

“Where’s mommy and daddy? Grandpa?”

He would not answer her as he cried.

20 years later she would still live with her great grandfather, abusing her body and mind with any number of drugs, and if not altering her mind and hosting parties she was training until she broke.

She was obsessed with power, it only got worse the more of her family she lost.

Her parents back then, cousins, aunts, uncles, all gone.

She had only a handful of people who still shared her blood and yet most had been hidden away before they or anyone else knew about their faked deaths and cosmetic magics to hide who they were.

Her great grandfather never forgave himself for every death, he fell more into violence and rage, anyone who he could find related to what had happened.

Then once it was done he was just… empty.

Unsure where the rest of his anger could go.

Bones cracked and muscles tore as her body was too powerful for itself and she spent weeks recovering from what she had done.

It only pissed her off more that it was the first time she had seen her great grandfather in months.

“Eliza, I am sorry, I should’ve made you a list of what to use and how.”

“You can’t do that if you aren’t here.”

Sepul could not answer her.

He was not a father, his grandson was her real father and he failed him two decades, he had always relied on his wives for child rearing as much as he could.

He could fell Wyverns, yet raising children was beyond him.

He stayed quiet for a time.

“Have you made any friends? Your instructor perhaps? She is a kind woman.”

“Mary has helped me. I will return to my training as soon as I am cleared.”

“It might do you well to go to the academy, at least for a year. It is a shame to live inside of these walls without anyone to keep you company aside from the staff. Maybe go to noble parties, not the ones you hosted?”

“When was the last time you went to a party?”

She knew the answer, it was 8 years ago, the king had wanted him to try and come out of his shell after the loss of so many members of his family and it had been a disaster.

“Would you at least consider the academy?”

“If you allow me to pick my courses then I shall.”

He tried to make smalltalk but she stonewalled him and just read her books.

2 years came and went, she made few friends, though they were close.

Then a quick wedding after she got pregnant from her friend and she wanted to keep the baby.

Yet now she held the little girl in her arms and thought about ending her life.

“I can’t be a mother”

“What?”

Her husband, a talented peasant who made his way to the academy with a sponsor from the local count.

“Walter, I can’t do this. I don’t feel anything. She is just another thing, somebody I don’t know.”

“We talked about this. It will fade, you were so happy yesterday. Your hormones are just having a rough transition from having her in you to out here.”

“I’ll try.”

6 months came and went, she talked to people, her friend’s, May, Sheron, Cecil.

It never went away.

Her child was just another person.

Somebody who she watched grow up, she knew it was wrong, that she should feel something, she remembered how happy her parents were to have her.

It only made everything worse until she could not stand it anymore and she left.

She could not even stand her husband anymore, he just reminded her that she could not be a wife, or a mother, but she could be a killer.

“Honey, please, you can get better.”

“Goodbye. My grandfather will take care of all of your needs. That is all he is good for.”

Sepul tried to stop her, but it only made things worse.

She felt indifferent towards most people, but she hated him.

4 years passed, she was a ranger now.

The one time last year when she went back home to see if she could feel anything for her own daughter she introduced herself as her aunt and little Elise didn’t pay her much mind, but it crushed Walter, all of his plans, the nice dinner, the picnic with the family, it was wasted effort.

She knew that she should’ve felt something, but she didn’t.

It should’ve been a simple clearing operation, yet a strange man walked into their camp and not a single soldier resisted as they cut down the men and took the women.