"It is often so with the plans of mortals, where good intentions and kindness at the start, get corrupted and turned for the worse as time goes on, whether it be due to the passing of the original planner, or due to them changing with time.

I blame them not, to be honest. Their ephemeral nature often means that mortals had short sights, their plans made for the immediate, not for the far away future, and it was truly rare to find a visionary who managed to pass his vision through generations without a distortion taking place.

As for me you ask? Child, I have existed since long before any of the current nations. I still remember the days when every race was eking out a tribal existence, barely making do from day to day, as they fought to survive.

I have seen most everything there is to see, and these days, I honestly yearn for something new to witness." - Nec Aarin, the Bone lord.

Aideen felt the wind whip her hair around as she rode on Haon's back, reaching the frontlines of the battlefield in a mere minute after she parted from Mimia. From her higher vantage point on Haon's back she spied her brother, gathered with many of his Death Guards, and noticed that they formed a perimeter while some of them slumped or laid down in the middle while a few others treated them as best they could.

She nudged Haon with her leg, then when the bone wolf turned his head to look at her, she pointed in Diarmuid's direction, and Haon nodded as he adjusted his course in that direction.

With a twist of her hand, Aideen had the blade her staff set out, turning the weapon into a long dagger-axe halberd just moments before she and Haon crashed into the zombie hordes, their allies giving way on seeing their rapid approach.

Corpses were strewn wildly by Haon's passage, as he relied on his bulk to force his way through the throng of bodies, his six bone blades wildly scything around and slicing zombies apart as he rushed through. From her perch on his back, Aideen swung her weapon and struck down other zombies as they passed, mostly those further off to their side or slightly behind, as Haon had been very efficient in clearing their road forward.

It only took another minute or so before Haon leapt over the Death Guards' perimeter to some cries of alarm, and Aideen jumped off his back as she went straight for the injured members and went to work. Healing magic knit flesh together and closed wounds shut at speeds visible to the naked eye, as the few healing-capable Death Guards breathed a sigh of relief at her arrival.

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A few minutes after her arrival, she was finished healing the few injured, and rose up to the thanks of her patients. She turned to see that her brother had apparently waited for her, and that Haon had also waited for her instead of going off on his own.

"How goes the fight, brother?" She asked Diarmuid as she crudely wiped her bloody hands on her tunic. It was already torn and bloodied anyway. .

"We are pushing them steadily, and casualties are acceptable for the time being, but I don't know if it will remain that way. People are starting to tire, so we might have to retreat for a rest by evening," replied Diarmuid with a concerned voice. "The death knights also went a bit off course for a while earlier, though last we could see, they were back on track by now."

"Yeah, they had an ambush hit Kestera's group, must've been the distraction from that," answered Aideen. "Everyone was alive and should be fine, in case you wonder. I just came from there myself."

"Good to know," said Diarmuid as he nodded. He had a few small cuts on him that Aideen healed as an afterthought in moments. "Will you be staying with us then?"

"I'm thinking of going to where Maebh is, actually," replied Aideen to her brother. "If we want to finish this battle before too long, we would need to remove their necromancers, and I can help out on that front."

"Very well then," nodded Diarmuid as his sister leapt back atop Haon. Just before she left, he raised a fist and yelled to her. "Good hunting, sister!"

On Haon's back, Aideen forged through the horde of undead, heading towards the wooden palisade that surrounded La Fiachna. Along the way she saw how there were a concentration of abominations there defending the foot of the palisade, being harried by quick moving cavalrymen or swarmed by death knights, while from atop the palisade mages bombarded those below with all sorts of attack magic.

It took Aideen a while before she spotted Maebh, fighting alongside her Templars at the front, and she made her way there. She winced as she saw a bolt of death magic from atop the palisade hit Maebh's steed just as they turned from the offensive for another run, and the horse crumpled beneath her and threw her off.

Fortunately, Maebh was quite well trained for such situations. She landed in a roll and got back up to one knee in a smooth motion. She found herself right next to an abomination which was swinging one of its meaty fists her way, but kept her calm, and fired a blast of bright light at its face.

The fist still came her way even as the abomination jerked back a little from her strike, and she barely deflected it with her shield, the force of the blow pushing her back a short distance, and from the way her left arm dangled, it was probably dislocated or broken.

Before Maebh had time to worry about her injury however, a large shadow was cast over her, and the next moment she saw Haon - with Aideen still on his back - crash right into the abomination, and together they tore it apart with brutal efficiency.

"You all right, Maebh?" Aideen asked as she jumped down from Haon's back. Further away she noticed Trí and Ceathair also fighting their way towards the palisades as they followed Haon, and they were quite close by now.

"Arm's broken I think," said Maebh as she winced a bit from the pain. "I'll live though."

"Let's get that fixed real fast then," said Aideen as she held Maebh's broken arm with one hand and channeled her magic through. Her other hand wielded her staff and swatted away a bolt of death magic aimed at Maebh, the anti magic enchantment on the staff unraveling the bolt as it passed through. "Done. I take it those abominations are holding you off from climbing the palisade?"

"We tried a few times, but couldn't reach the top due to the mages up top and the abominations below," explained Maebh as she replied to the question. "Do you have an idea, aunt Aideen?"

"I might, yes."