Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

There was currently a war going on inside Tamer of Instinct’s mind; a battle between outrage, concern and disbelief. The plan had initially gone well enough. Even as his first strike was not as decisive as it could have been, due to at least a modicum of competence from his target, there had still been little to no doubt of the final outcome of their duel. The interference of the darting thrown attacks had been rather annoying, but not enough on its own to turn the duel in the elf’s favor.

Then, just as he was about to re-establish his control over the situation once more, that damned girl with the strange aura had started interfering. At the beginning, Tamer had put her rather low on the list of priorities as what little healing and interference she could produce just didn’t seem like that important. Part of his mind had almost instantly seen the weakness of her path, and knew that she was prey, not predator.

It had been like waking from a daydream as her aura had suddenly revealed itself for what it was; nuanced, encompassing and way stronger than any iron-ranked aura had the right to be. As it had enveloped the hydra, his hydra, Tamer had felt his control over its aggression slipping, aggression he had spent days building up and directing as he proved his dominance. And if it was something he could not stomach, it was being shown up by an iron-ranker in a battle of domination.

Had it only been aura to aura with both parties focusing only on spiritual combat, Tamer was sure that he could have fought her off, but had to admit that he wasn’t as sure of his chances to suppress her. But this situation wasn’t that simple, as the bronze-ranked elf with all the glass renewed his attacks as well. Tamer quickly realized that he had to intervene, however, even if that meant accepting lord Pain’s ministrations from his opponent.

The glass shards did indeed hurt as they bit into his flesh, but he had no trouble enduring as he shifted focus and sent a lot of mana into what he had named his Culling of the Weak. It was a special attack from his hunt essence which acted in opposite to an execute effect, dealing more damage the healthier his target was. At the middle level of bronze rank, it could often end iron-rankers in a single decisive blow, and he expected no less this time as well as the jade-haired girl’s focus was locked on the hydra.

That the attack, one of his most powerful and decisive, had suddenly been snuffed out along with even more of his mana by another of the annoying iron-rankers, the young man with the staff and the stone armor, was what threatened to truly break his focus. As the hydra descended into uncontrolled aggression, the brat even had the gall to charge at him even as the glow of the racial gift evolution was still fading from around him. No, this would not stand. His pride in his work and his skills just couldn't stand it, as the incredulous fury eroded the little restraint he still held. Long-term plans be damned. Only the present mattered.

Just before the iron-ranker reached him, even as more of the glass projectiles struck him, Tamer of Instinct reached beneath his collar and crushed the amulet hidden beneath. And all the small needles implanted into monster bodies cracked along with it.

Several more of Grim’s projectiles struck the beastmaster as Kite closed in, even as he met the unnervingly intense gaze of the man. Expecting a fierce counterattack to his arrival, he felt another note of concern as his enemy reached inside his collar. Kite could only see the hint of a magical discharge. But the sudden intensity bursting from all around the battlefield quickly revealed its effects.

It was as if all the iron-ranked monsters had suddenly eaten a spirit coin. While not enough to push them over the edge into bronze-rank, they all seemed to gain a burst of ferocious energy and unbridled aggression. From the howls and aura pressure emanating from the surrounding forest, the effect was not limited to only the vicinity either.

Even as he engaged the bronze-ranker, Kite’s all round vision could see the defenders having to unleash their most potent abilities to just stay alive and keep from being overwhelmed. Staff met trident as they clashed, Kite narrowly holding on through the combined layers of defense provided by his barriers, interposed weapon and footwork.

His staff was still ripped from his hands in short order by the tines of the trident, and Kite brought another barrier up which he continuously channeled mana into through his racial gift, shifting the translucent disc to block a flurry of thrusts. Waves of frustration rolled off his opponent whose aura attempted to clamp down on Kite’s like the fangs of a predator around the neck of its prey, and it was only Kite’s training combined with his other racial gift evolution that allowed for him to not be completely suppressed. It was obvious that his opponent just wanted to finish Kite quickly and get on with what was to him the real battle, which meant that every second Kite held on became a stain on his skills and prowess

Unleashing another of Sage’s beams to force his opponent back, Kite took a short leap back as he brought his staff out yet again, returned to his personal void through the charm attached to its bottom after being previously disarmed. The swing was only through the air, but Kite’s newly awakened intent carried it to his opponent in short order as a pursuing lunge was thrown off its trajectory by the sudden force striking his waist.

His staff was quickly replaced by his spear, with a thrust carried through the void as well to reach across the short distance. However, his opponent quickly seemed to have caught on to the nature of Kite’s new vector of attack, dodging to the side as he was apparently able to sense the strike. It seemed that his new and evolved racial gift was not without its own limits, even if Kite already knew that it should be supremely useful in the future. As long as he survived this tribulation.

Fortunately for Kite, Grim used the distance Kite had created between them to employ some of his devastating spells. The beastmaster was suddenly enveloped in a churning cloud of shredding glass shards, quickly coloring a faint red with the man’s blood. Their foe was forced to activate what Kite assumed was another of his more powerful defensive abilities as he dashed out of the churning cloud, surprisingly unharmed as he pushed through the hazard.

The same could not be said for the hydra which was currently rampaging and lashing out against both the iron-ranked monsters along with Will and Dragonfly, who had wisely retreated to the edge of the pack as they fought. Wounds started appearing all over the hydra’s form, faster than even the regeneration of the beast could handle, the beastmaster apparently being able to pass the damage onto his ‘companions’.

“Grim, again!” Kite shouted as an idea formed in his mind. The man, still focused on Kite, was currently leaping towards him with great speed. But this time, there was enough time for a chant.

“Wall!”

Small cracks formed in the wall of force as the beastmaster crashed into the obstacle which appeared between him and Kite. However, Kite didn’t stop there as he formed the wall into a square around his foe, completely encircling his foe in an open-topped cage. The bronze-ranker was barely dazed by the collision, and made to leap up from the confines the second his feet touched the ground. But this small delay gave Kite the time to chant again.

“Void!”

The gate filled with nothingness appeared, but not between Kite and his foe as was most often the case. This time, it appeared above the cage of force, putting a lid on the prison of Kite’s design. The beastmaster collided briefly with the void gate before being thrown back down by the violent and damaging reaction which occurred when something living came into contact with the conjured phenomenon.

Prolonging his most costly barrier through his racial gift was a very draining endeavor in terms of mana, but Kite still employed that tactic to ensure his foe remained in place just a little while longer as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.

The now enclosed space was suddenly filled with another conjured storm of swirling glass shards, and from the way the rampaging hydra was shredded as if cut by ten thousand blades Kite suspected that his opponent was not faring too well. His only regret was that he hadn’t had the time to try and dispel the damage-redirecting effect before trapping his opponent like this, but at least they got results.

Dragonfly and Will took that opportunity to pounce upon the wounded beast, having been able to ramp up their powers even as they had earlier been forced into a more careful approach by the irate monster.

“Heavenly Shaft; Darkness penetrator!” Will shouted as the huge glowing replica of his spear pierced the hydra’s body even while it looked to be in the process of being flayed alive due to the damage transferred from its master.

Dragonfly just shouted in wordless fury as she spun in her leaping finisher, forming a wheel of flame which cut through three of the five heads before losing her momentum.

Their combined effort proved to be more than the bronze-ranked monster could handle, as even the hydra’s potent regeneration proved insufficient for the onslaught. The remaining two heads fell limp, a snarling shriek of pain and frustration emanating from the cage of death formed by Kite’s and Grim’s united efforts as the damage no longer had a target to be transferred to.

Neither the flaming fury of the young woman nor the precise excellence of the elven scion could be allowed to rest, however, as the rampaging packs of iron-rank monsters did not exclude them as even more of the beasts were welling into the clearing. The efforts of their fellow adventurers remained frantic in the renewed onslaught as the sheer number of berserk creatures threatened to wash away their positions. The reserves keeping watch in the caves had already needed to be deployed to prevent one of the positions from collapsing completely.

And neither could Kite rest as he finally had to let go of his channeled efforts into keeping the void gate open beyond its normal limits. He wasn’t entirely out of mana just yet, but was drawing dangerously close. Besides, their enemy hadn’t remained idle either, and the closest of Kite’s force walls finally broke under his onslaught. What emerged barely looked like a person anymore, skin and muscles flensed along with his shredded armor. Kite’s magical perception saw the remnants of a potent regenerative power fading, and even after that the man was on his last legs.

But an essence-users last dregs of power can make a lot of difference and the man’s eyes were still exuding an almost maniacal hatred as he charged for Kite, even as the rest of the battlefield was teetering on the edge of collapse.

Tamer of Instincts was taught the hard way that there was pain even he wasn’t completely immune to, but the emotional pain of shame seared his spirit even worse than what raw nerves his body still had.

This was not how it was supposed to go. He had worked hard to show these damn adventurers the folly of their ways, that his path and that of the sect was the supreme. Even should his beasts prevail, it was pointless if he could not live to show the result to his master. The victory was his.

And he hadn’t even killed one of the adventurers, even as his pack was decimated and he was humiliated in that cage of death and blood. But he would. Oh, he would take at least one of them with him. That thrice-damned young man who had annoyed him so, who had stripped his magic and curtailed his movement. Who had dared to stop his path short like that.

Tamer charged against him, ignoring the glass shards which continued to tear at his body. Activating his pouncing strike ability, he flew at the man with the last dregs of swiftness available to him. The young man produced a spear of bone to receive him, and Tamer impaled himself on it as he slid along its length, closer to his prey. It was with glee he saw the brat’s eyes go wide as he closed the final distance, trident left forgotten behind him.

Fingers outstretched like claws, his first strike was caught on a barrier which appeared with but a word from the brat even as he had let go of the wicked spear which now pierced Tamer’s gut. But Tamer’s second attack struck true, his movements too quick in these close quarters as the young man didn't interpose his arm in time. Like the predator he was, Tamer went for the throat as he activated one of his special attacks.

It was nothing fancy, just providing his strike with primal power and allowing his unarmed attacks to rend flesh. But it felt ever so satisfying to Tamer as his hand reached above the edge of the brat’s armor and ripped out his throat. Had the heaven’s been just, he would have ripped the head clean off. But the spray of blood as the young man stumbled back, hands instinctively going to his throat and the sizable chunk missing from it, had at least put a smile on Tamer’s face as he looked out over the straining defensive lines of the adventurers, the monster horde he had gathered on the brink of overwhelming them. The horde that was to be his crowning achievement would at least be his legacy; his part played as their sect retook their place in the wider world.

The horde which suddenly had a gaping hole in it, a swathe of monsters just… gone. Flying through the air in different states of bodily integrity, but mostly somewhere between in pieces and a kind of liquid state. And in the center of the hole in the surging horde, a woman crouched, palm resting on the ground. A woman with a silver ranked aura.

“Palm arts; Scatter the rain!”

Tamer could barely register the movement as a globule of water formed in the air ahead of her, floating serenely before she hit it with an open-palmed strike, her long thin braid whipping behind her from the blowback of the motion. The almost spherical mass of water scattered as a conical spray of drops shot out along most of the open stretch of terrain, piercing everything in their path. Monsters, both iron and bronze-rank, were simply torn apart by the myriad drops which punched through them like diminutive meteors.

“No. No no no no no no nonononononono-” Tamer’s mind began racing. All the silver-rankers were accounted for. There shouldn’t be any free enough to get here at this time. There shouldn’t- It was impossible! A joke. He-

His internal tirade was brought to another abrupt halt as the heavens played yet another joke on his expense. Light flashed from the iron-ranker he had slain. Or almost had slain. Last he had looked at him, he had been staggering and well on his way to falling to the ground. But he hadn’t. Still on one knee, a bright light shone from inside him as his flesh knitted itself back together and his body was steadying itself. As the young man began to rise to his feet once more, Tamer shrieked at the sky. One second, another and then-

Kite was staggering back to his feet, veins filled with the liquid lightning of his most potent restorative ability; Immortality. Only once before had it saved his life so thoroughly, when Kite Serene and Dragonfly had stumbled onto the trio of bronze-ranked ice elementals.

His assailant, flensed and barely alive seemed to have frozen in place before giving off an hysterical wail, a wail that was cut short like a pair of scissors cutting a string when a shard of glass the length of Kite’s lower arm pierced his skull from temple to temple. The body was thrown to the ground in less than a second, tumbling once before coming to a stop in a sprawled heap.

Only then did Kite’s conscious thoughts recognize that a new aura was dominating the battlefield; one he recognized even though it was also different, as if it had been reborn and reforged.

“Master Force?” he murmured, stunned as he recognized her form where she strode through the battlefield. Her full name, Force of Raging Torrent, had apparently been given to her during the last monster surge where she, as a newly minted bronze-ranker, had been a vital part of defending an isolated fortress town. And as she started clearing out the monster horde as one might sweep dust from a table, Kite had to agree with the name.

He knew from Dragonfly that master Force possessed the water, might and potent essences which led to the force confluence, but hadn’t actually seen her much in action before now where he got the chance for a proper demonstration.

Force’s motions were steady and methodical, where measured open-palm strikes allowed her to execute a range of special attacks where pure force and water intermixed. The attacks often covered wide areas and made heavy use of the incompressible nature of water as the otherwise placid liquid tore through her foes when directed and pressurized through her controlled strikes. Kite was particularly impressed as one of the attacks sent water lancing in a thin stream which literally cut apart a trio of bronze-ranked wood elementals.

Kite also finally connected the dots in that her secretive task before the expedition must have been to grasp an opportunity to reach silver rank, bringing a previously unknown silver-ranker to the table in a region where they were few and far between.

Her presence instantly relieved the pressure which had just now threatened to overwhelm the valiant defense of the scout platoon, the battle taking on an entirely different rhythm.

“I must admit I did not expect reinforcements. Rarely have I been so pleased to have my expectations subverted.” Grim said as he stepped up next to Kite, relief evident in even his normally composed features. “What is your status?”

“I… I am well. It was close there at the end, and I had to use my immortality-power. But it left me restored.” Kite answered. His body was indeed fine after the potent recovery, although his mind still felt worn and tired. That he had been that close to death was a fact that he firmly directed to the back of his mind, as it was something to deal with later.

“Then we shall form up with the others. As our newest arrival has the field itself well in hand, our efforts are better focused towards relieving the defenders and carrying wounded.”

Kite nodded in response and they set off to face more battle, and the consequences which came after.

“Master Force!”

The taller woman, now giving off the powerful presence of a silver-ranker, seemed all too used to the motion of catching her disciple as Dragonfly executed one of her typical assault-grade hugs. Kite’s distinct feeling of her being the same but somehow more remained as he looked at her. She had the same short-cropped brown hair with one long braid gathered at the back of her head. Her facial features had been statuesque at bronze rank, and had now been further elevated to a level where she had a striking beauty. While she still dressed in the way of martial practitioners, in cloth armor reinforced in key places that was tight around the torso and looser along the legs, Kite also got the distinct feeling that her armor now matched her new rank. She had indeed been prepared for the eventual ranking up.

Overall, Force seemed the same, but more in control of both her motions and her surroundings in a way that made Kite feel a pang of longing for reaching such a lofty level himself.

“You broke through! I knew you could! Was that why you were gone? Why didn’t you tell meeeeeee?” Dragonfly exclaimed and complained in equal measure.

Force took it all in stride, even as most of the remaining adventurers gathered gave Dragonfly weird looks for being so familiar in public with what was effectively one of the most powerful people in the whole region. One iron-ranker in particular had seemed like a stickler for protocol as he had even tried to intercept Dragonfly as she was heading straight for her master. The attempt had not been even remotely successful, and the young man still gave Dragonfly disapproving looks from afar as he watched the exchange.

Kite and his group, with the exception of Serene who was still monitoring or bringing her healing to bear on some of the wounded, followed in Dragonfly’s wake to where Force stood near one of the defensive measures. The cleanup after the battle had been lengthy as the surroundings had been full of rampaging monsters, many turning on one another if they weren’t close enough to the battle when whatever the beastmaster had activated took effect. But with the addition of a silver-ranker, those still in shape for fighting had mainly been cleaning up in her wake as she had been fastidious in her sweep.

“Center yourself, Dragonfly.” Force responded with a fond smile reserved for the situations one had repeated many, many times. “I was indeed sent off in an attempt to cover the final stretch to silver. The branch director even had me portaled south to where one of the weaker silver-ranked monsters had manifested, although I had to take a slower mode of transport back as there was no portal user with a rank high enough available. Also, the branch director wanted my participation and potential rank to be kept secret as well, as we silver-rankers are valuable assets in a place such as this.”

“As one of those responsible for this group out in the field, I must properly express our gratitude to you, Force of Raging Torrent. Had it not been for your intervention, I fear our losses may have been catastrophic.” Grim declared. While he remained as disheveled as any of them who had just been through a battle such as this, his demeanor had quickly reverted to the stiff formality Kite had associated with him. Still, it was odd to see his black, sleek robes rent and torn. Kite could even see that some of the buttons, normally arranged in two gleaming rows, were missing.

“Master Force, how come you arrived just now? And knew where to find us?” Dragonfly asked as she was just coming up from the hug, looking up at the taller woman.

“Fortune favored us all in that regard. I will admit that I did not know of your plight at first, but had the fortune of arriving at the base camp just as the peripheral scouting report came in, so as the only silver-ranker yet to be deployed I took it upon myself to come and reinforce you as quickly as I could.

As for how I found you-” she said, holding up a small, shiny stone.they all recognized as a tracking stone, “- the society was kind enough to give me a few of these in advance so that I could rendezvous with you. They do respect the bond of mentor and student enough to allow me to somewhat prioritize it.

The aura beacon the enemy deployed helped as well to steer me in the right direction. But we are now falling more into report-territory. We have wounded who we need to get to safety and should see about departure from this place. See that we get a casualty report as well.”

Even as they spoke, the camp had seen a constant stream of activity where both the wounded and the dead had been brought into the caves. They all knew that they couldn’t stay here for too long, as they were the closest to where they presumed the hidden enemy base was. Even with Force’s arrival, they could soon be under attack from an even greater threat.

As the others walked off to find out in what ways they could help, there being no complaints even from one of such a noble background as Will, Force stopped Kite before he got too far.

“Kite. Did Walker… Did he perish?” she asked him, tone neutral in the way many adopted when keeping emotions in check.

The unknown fate of his uncle came back at Kite with full force from where it had been stashed at the back of his mind. “We- we don’t know. He might have gotten out as he stayed behind to cover for us. But the situation was bad.” Kite began in a subdued tone, as he recounted a short version of their attack on the outpost controlled by the church of Undeath.

Force just listened, and clapped a hand on Kite’s shoulder as he finished. “If Walker got out into the forests, then he should be alive. I’m not sure there are even any silver-rankers here which could reliably find him as long as he is within his own element. And if he didn’t…”

Neither of them finished the statement, as they drifted apart to various tasks. Kite’s logical side knew that not speaking of a matter didn’t make it less likely to be true. He did know that, but wasn’t strong enough to actually make use of the knowledge as all he knew and all he did not gnawed at his insides. So he was thankful for the distraction the logistics of their situation imposed on him as he carried supplies and wounded, as it allowed him to stash away the topic once more as he got to work.

The end result was a grim tally, although they all knew that there could have been a lot worse. In total, they had lost ten adventurers of the just above forty who initiated the defense. One bronze-ranker, the rest iron. All others were or had been wounded in one way or another, albeit that most had injuries which simple healing pills and their own natural healing could deal with in short order. Kite’s friends had been aghast when they had first seen his bloodied state, as the neck wound had painted the front of his armor in his own blood. Of their group, the wound in Grim’s side was the only one which had needed a healer's attention in the end.

The overall plan of action was to escape this place before more trouble found them, which meant sending as many of their wounded through another portal as they could before the rest would leave on foot. They didn’t dare to thin out their numbers too much more, as smaller groups would leave them more vulnerable to attacks.

Once more, Kite found himself among his friends as they got a moment to rest before the march eastward. In the distance, Grim was overseeing the last few wounded to be sent through the portal while Force was out to keep an eye on the perimeter. Dragonfly was currently busy with handing out different items to the group.

“- and these are for you Kite.” she finished, handing him a small pile of quintessence wrapped in a simple cloth bag. “Master Force said that it was bronze-rank gathering quintessence, and I thought you might need it when Sage will rank up. No, Glint, you won’t need anything like that. You’ll rank up when Kite does.” she finished with a fond smile as she patted the carp, who had looked at her very expectantly.

Kite thanked Dragonfly as he stowed the small bag, and felt a twinge of guilt as he looked at Glint who seemed happy to be out and about again. Recently, it felt like she had been confined to her flask a lot. Kite knew that the carp wanted to help, but he still found himself hesitant to bring her along into more dangerous situations, worried that she would be injured again. He knew she was as durable as he was, but without his barriers and equipment. Still, he resolved to think about it some more, as he didn’t think it entirely fair to Glint either to just keep her out of danger only due to his own worries.

“I will have to give your master my thanks, Dragonfly!” Will said as he received his own small package. “Does she have a looting power? I can’t think that she would just happen to carry all of this around.”

“Oh, she does! And it's an awesome one!” Dragonfly exclaimed as she sat down. “She literally punches treasure out of her enemies. Apparently, it has something to do with the pressure of her strikes forcefully condensing the magic of her targets along with the ambient magic. She had me go around the field outside and pick everything up, and is distributing it as a bonus to all the survivors.”

“She can even produce awakening stones.” Kite chimed in, thinking back to when she had gifted him one as he was starting out as an adventurer.

The group lapsed into silence as they waited, accompanied by the usual gentle humming from Serene. Still trying to distract himself from his worry, Kite broached a topic with the young priestess.

“Serene, what did you actually do to the hydra back there?” he wondered. Her actions had been crucial for the team’s reversal of the ambush from what they had assumed to be the leader of the essence-users who had brought all the monsters. There had been a few other enemy essence-users on the field as well, but they had all been at iron rank.

“I tried to stoke its rage. Even most primitive monsters have some kind of emotions, and whatever our enemies did to the hydra, it did not enjoy the experience. It was already irate, but kept in check by the aura of what I assumed was its handler, like a string pulled taut but not to the point of breaking. I managed to fan the flames of fury to help it break free on its own, especially since you all were distracting the man already.”

“Can you even do that with auras? Affect someone’s emotions?” Dragonfly asked, seeming both curious and concerned.

“Not usually, at least not on iron rank.” Will added. “I’ve heard that higher-rankers can do it sometimes.

“It is possible, but very hard as most instinctively shun away from such manipulation.” Serene answered. “And yes, normally it would be considered almost impossible on iron rank. Had I not been blessed with a fourfold aura, I might not have even been taught it. But one of my mentors in the temple has started teaching me the basics. On higher ranks, we start conveying our songs through our auras as well as by sound, after all. And they thought I was ready to begin training early.

At the moment, I wouldn’t be able to do it to an intelligent being of normal rank without being obvious, and they would probably be able to shrug off the influence if they wanted. That I could do it at all to the hydra was probably since it had a rather simple mind and I tried to stoke an impulse that it was already deeply in the throes of.”

“It was still most impressive, Serene!” Will exclaimed, raising the iron-ranked spirit coin he was about to eat in a mock toast.

“It truly was. Well done, Serene. You might have saved all of us by succeeding.” Kite agreed, turning a smile on his friend whose demure composure seemed to crack a bit in embarrassment of the praise and attention, a bit of it even leaking into her aura. Kite felt happy that Serene was taking the spotlight and opening up a bit more in the interactions of their little group. While she had never been a recluse, she still tended to position herself a bit more into the background, albeit a bit less in recent times. He hoped that it was a sign that she felt herself rising to the challenges she had decided to face.

Not long after, it was time to set off, a group of twenty-eight adventurers breaking camp and leaving eastwards. Force remained with the group while Whirl and another bronze-ranker scouted ahead and in their wake. The group took turns riding on Glint to be allowed to rest for a little while. The forest was dark and foreboding around them, but Kite thought it felt good to have a set destination even as his body felt wrung out. Even as they left, part of Kite’s mind remained there in the west, worry over his uncle’s fate like a chilling shard of ice in the pit of his stomach.

High up in a tree, hidden well among the rust-red canopy in the darkness of the night, Brave Walker of Paths shuddered as he ate another healing pill. He was concealed in every manner he knew, from small formations to his own essence powers, as he combated the most annoying affliction which the undead priestess had left with him, probably through that vile trap formation.

Where his left arm should have been, there was only a dressed wound which had only now stopped bleeding hours later. Normally, his peak bronze-rank recovery attribute would have sealed it up, but whatever affliction remained with him interfered with both his own healing and that of pills. Not entirely negating it, but slowing it down considerably. He imagined that recovery from the brink of death would be a bit anathema to their church. After all, one needed to die first so that they could be reborn anew, according to their dark teachings.

Even in this situation, Walker had sent prayers of thanks to all gods who would listen for his particular essence abilities, as all three search parties he had sensed had passed him by as the forest around him helped him cover his trail, even absorbing the trail of blood left behind him. Cutting off his own arm had been exactly as painful as he would have imagined, but it was the final desperate maneuver that had allowed him to escape as those teeth came closing in.

“Regrowing the arm might put a small dent in my savings for silver. But I suppose I can’t complain too much.” he thought to himself, wishing that he hadn’t needed to leave the limb behind for the church of Undeath to do with as they pleased. Imagining his own flesh as part of some undead abomination was not the state of mind he needed right now.

“Please be safe, little Kite.” Walker thought as he rubbed the token of Fortune between thumb and forefinger. “After all, I have to return this to you.”