Hiram's lined face gave little away as he smiled tiredly at the two Warriors. The stalwart man looked exhausted, deep shadows taking up residence beneath his puffy, bloodshot eyes. He walked up to them with a slight hitch to his step, favouring his left leg. He glanced over at the horse Katai had led from the village, his expression growing strained as he looked sadly at the young man.

“I’m sorry lad,” he said, voice low and surprisingly husky. Katai simply nodded, eyes staring at the ground, not trusting himself to speak.

He took a deep breath, taking a moment to centre himself. Seeing such a familiar figure of authority made him feel safe again for the first time since the attack. It also brought out the emotions he’d been supressing.

He desperately tried to clear his head, thinking of anything other than what had happened in the village. Now was not the time to break down into a blubbering mess - too many people needed him. They were relying on him and the other surviving fighters for protection and safety.

“Let’s get you two a spot to rest then, and I’ll grab a couple o’ lads to...uh, help with preparations,” said Hiram awkwardly, before guiding them passed a pair of bedraggled-looking guards hidden deeper in the woods.

The rough camp that they walked into was a ramshackle affair, groups of people simply sitting in any available space. Families and friends huddled together, some gently weeping, while others looked around angrily, wondering who to blame. A small few were blank-faced, the horrors of the attack too much for them to handle, completely unaware of their surroundings. Expressions of defeat and despair hung heavily on the majority of the village folk, showing how much the attack had crushed their spirits. It was no wonder the atmosphere felt so despondent to the two men, the deaths of friends and family casting a pall over the survivors. They’d been driven from their homes. Now they didn’t know what was going to happen, or what to do with themselves.

The number of survivors was actually a small ray of sunshine in the bleak atmosphere for Katai and Silas. There were a lot more people here than they’d expected to see. It looked like over half the village had survived, a miracle considering how sudden the attack had been.

The number of people in such a small, cramped area proved itself a problem for Katai as his Sense Blood skill started to overwhelm his other senses. The skill was almost blinding him with the constant feedback, causing him to stumble repeatedly as he followed behind Hiram.

“Are you ok Katai - you’re not wounded, are you?” said Silas, a look of concern crossing his face as he leant over his swaying friend.

“Just… just give me a second, I’m fine...” said Katai, forcing the words out despite his discomfort. He retreated from the outside world, closing his eyes and looking inwards, focusing on the skill and the information it was sending him. The pressure coming from all around him was the cause of his discomfort, the villagers overloading his mind with data.

Sense Blood has reached level 7.

The pressure lessened slightly, but the discomfort remained. He needed to do something before he collapsed.

Deactivating the skill for the first time, he gave a small sigh of relief when the pressure abruptly disappeared. Opening his eyes, he found Silas and Hiram looking down at him with concern.

“Sorry, one of my new skills was giving me a headache,” Katai explained, “if you don’t mind, I’m going to try and work out what’s wrong with it?”

Hiram nodded at his question. “Don’t take too long, we need to get these people moving. It’s not safe staying here, so close to the village.”

With that, Hiram strode off, heading out of the clearing. Silas looked at him questioningly.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. I just need a bit of time.”

“Ok, I’ll go help Hiram with the preparations.”

Katai waited until Silas had left before closing his eyes. Activating the skill, he felt his senses expand, the pressure on his mind returning to its previous level of discomfort. It was bordering on painful, even at level seven of the skill. Perhaps enduring the discomfort would end up levelling the skill until it was no longer a problem? That approach felt far too slow for Katai. He needed results sooner rather than later. He needed to experiment.

Prodding at the areas that held dense amounts of the red haze, he tried to push and pull at the misty material. It felt dense and unresponsive however, completely unaffected by his mental manipulation.

Having another idea, he tried moving his perspective in his mental projection. The skill gave him a view that he imagined was similar to a bird, surveying the land down below. He tried to picture himself as a bird flying high above the landscape, soaring around the painful spots. This seemed to change the way the pressure felt against his mind.

Focusing on this idea, he tried to move in closer to a single point, bringing it to the forefront. The pressure built up in front of him, but this time it was only coming from the one source. The overwhelming pressure from the other points started to fade away as he kept his focus firmly locked on the area in front of him. He felt something click in the back of his mind, and suddenly it was much easier. Now it seemed like he could direct the skill and focus on different points at will.

The pressure eased, even as his awareness expanded. He could sense more people around him, and his awareness was easily directed to concentrate on an area, bringing it into focus. The intense pressure had dispersed into small pinpricks of sensation, showing him the exact spot where each living being resided, instead of a general red haze covering the area.

Bringing himself out of his trance-like state, he happily noted a handful of new notifications.

Sense Blood has reached level 8.

Sense Blood has reached level 9.

Sense Blood has reached level 10.

Your understanding of the skill Sense Blood has increased!

You are now Proficient with this skill. Control and range have increased.

Sense Blood (Proficient) – level 1.

Katai opened his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. He stood, rolling his stiff shoulders and reached up towards the sky, stretching the muscles in his back. The body of a Warrior, while muscular and nimble, was prone to soreness as much as any other. After a long day of combat and travel, his body was starting to stiffen up.

Striding back into the clearing, Silas’ worried expression eased into a subdued smile. He watched as Katai stretched, the dark hair falling across his face obscuring his expression. Silas knew he wouldn’t be smiling though, he hadn’t seen his friend smile since… well, it was understandable. But Katai had always been the more responsible and mature of the pair. It was worrying, seeing him so despondent and moody.

Silas shook himself from his thoughts, resolving to be there for his friend. He'd be a shoulder to lean on, no matter what happened. What else was a friend for, after all?

He continued towards Katai, clasping him on the shoulder and gazing into his bloodshot eyes.

“Enjoy your little nap?”

Katai looked at his friend for a split second, face completely blank. Then, like the smallest sliver of golden light rising at the crack of dawn, the corner of Katai’s mouth quirked into the barest hint of a smile. His face relaxed a fraction, as he gazed back at Silas, appreciating the gesture for what it was.

“Just needed some time away from your constant yapping,” Katai said in a dry tone of voice, “it's enough to drive someone crazy.” Silas smiled, pleased to hear the light-hearted comment, even if it was lacking the trademark lazy smile.

“C’mon then, we don't have much time before Hiram wants to move. We need to find shelter.”

The pair walked out of the clearing, following a rising path that led them closer to Tolman's Hill. The trees grew sparser as they travelled, ascending one of the many foothills that dotted the landscape around the central peak. Reaching the top of the final rise, Katai spotted mounds of freshly dug earth, a dozen in total, spread out before them. A small group of men and women clustered around a pit that was still open, one of them kneeling as they quietly said their final farewells.

Katai recognised the figures, all family and friends. The kneeling figure was Salah's mother, weeping quietly as she knelt over her daughter's body, hand clutching desperately at the man standing close by her side. Their clothes were ripped and dirty from their escape into the woods, but the thing that stood out the most to Katai were their expressions.

Red-eyed and downcast, they were stricken with grief. Sadness and helplessness seemed to emanate from them as they looked down at their only child’s motionless form. They were not battle-hardened Warriors or world-weary Elders; they were simple folk from a simple village. Life was rough, but relatively carefree...until the tragic day their only child was murdered and they were driven from their homes.

For a moment, pity overrode Katai’s own feelings of sadness and grief. They didn't deserve such cruelty. No-one in the village did.

How anyone could willingly choose to do this to a person, let alone to an entire village… it was abominable. An unforgivable act of slaughter and wanton murder. An evil he would eradicate.

Thoughts of revenge simmered down, as he approached the gathering, grief replacing his feelings of anger. The others nodded respectfully in his direction, unwilling to break the quiet, solemn atmosphere with small talk. He stepped up to the pit and looked down on the body of his wife, laying on a thin blanket, still covered in dark splashes of dried blood. He felt tears gather in his eyes, as he looked upon her beautiful, pale face for the last time.

He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and the sound of soft footsteps as the others gave him some privacy. He appreciated the gesture, one last moment alone with his beloved Salah.

Katai spoke to her quietly, telling her of his regrets and failures, and the many things he wished he had said to her before he left on patrol that morning. He spoke of promises for the future, of caring for her family and the rest of the village.

Mostly though he remembered. The many happy times, the adventures and the thrills, the sheer bliss of spending time together. Those memories he did not speak of. But he promised her that he would never forget. Those memories would always be treasured, no matter what.

A short time later, he sensed the group returning. Stepping down into the pit, he wrapped the blanket around Salah, making sure there were no gaps in the fabric. His heart thumped in his chest erratically, but he ignored it with steadfast determination as he grabbed a nearby shovel. Dirt started to fall with a steady rhythm, matching the tears that fell from his face, as the others joined him in filling in the grave.

Silas wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow and looked over at his friend. Katai looked heartbroken but determined, a marked difference from his earlier apathy.

The impromptu funeral seemed to have helped his friend come to terms with his new reality. It might be a long time before he started seeing his old friend again, but Silas held out hope that one day he’d return to a semblance of his former self. He was still worried of course and he’d do everything he could to help Katai through it, but an event like this could change a person. Vengeance especially could turn a person into something much darker... against that, Silas could only do so much. The rest was blind hope, and trusting in his strength of character.

Only time would tell what kind of man Katai would become.

Katai's Status

Katai D’Castro

1st Class: Warrior – level 23

2nd Class: Blood Mage – level 12

Skills (1)

Lunge (Expert) – level 5

Parry (Expert) – level 3

Bash (Proficient) – level 3

Sense Blood (Proficient) – level 1 (+5)

Lacerate (Novice) – Level 3

Attributes

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 17

Constitution: 24

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 16

Charisma: 17

Magical Aptitude

Blood (Life): 62%

Water: 9%

Resistances

Spirit: -16%

Void: 31%

Blood (Life): 62%