Prologue:

“The world is once more imperiled, but we know not the fear of death nor the horror of failure. We few stand on these walls like stone carved from the world’s mightiest mountain. The years batter us and the rains crash down against our sides. We are smooth and wise and the wind can find no purchase to leave chill in our bones; for our bones are the land, our blood warmed from the nearness of our fellows, and our hearts the stars that mark truest north in the sky. To follow us is to already be victorious. The measure of any who stand beside us, already more than worthy. The world is once more endangered, but we few will stand and fight.”

A young woman in a white robe paced in front of her companions in the middle of a pine tree forest. A light dusting of snow covered the needles of the pines and covered the ground on either side of a well-kept road. Her cheeks were slightly rosy and her eyes danced and glittered with mirth. The edges of baby fat were starting to recede from her nose and her jaw, giving her a striking resemblance to another woman that stood comfortably near.

Blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders as she paused in front of that woman and looked into her eyes. Elisha nodded after a moment of quiet contemplation as a look was shared with her mother, the renowned Silf known as Hunter. Hunter’s hair was a shade of light red and her leathers older and seemingly oiled with some sort of substance that caused the light to refract in beautiful hues of dim violet.

Elisha returned to her walk and reached out to gently squeeze the free hand of her mother’s husband, her father Forsythe. His eyes were a line of inquisitiveness and he returned her hand squeeze as she moved on. Forsythe was, even now, an unchanging monster force in the world, looking as though the passage of time could leave no mark on him. His expression was relaxed and his stance casual, as if there were no tension in the air at all. Dark soot ran down from his eyes, strategically placed to break up his normal look. Elisha thought it made him look incredibly savage.

She nodded once, and then moved past Aidan with his sharp eyes and messy hair, trying to share a smile with the Heavenly Chronicler Amelia who even now had her head down as she wrote Elisha’s words into her glorious tome. Aidan and Amelia were largely unchanged except for the length of their hair. Aidan’s hair had always been somewhat long but it was even longer now, drifting down to his shoulders. Conversely, Amelia’s once long hair was now cropped short, barely hanging past her ears.

Although it only took a moment to move to the last of her companions, she lingered from that last step as if it were harder to take than the rest until she finally stood before War and Raven. War seemed naturally at ease as the visored man met Elisha’s eyes. Elisha still knew very little of this person even after the years that had come and gone so she gave a soft nod and they bowed back, surprising a brief smile onto her face.

The last was Raven, the girl who could be considered Elisha’s best friend in this life and whatever would come after. Raven with her dark hair and her smarmy good looks. The petite dancer that stood there as if the energy brimming inside her might explode outward at any moment. The girl who had once had only a single arm, but now had two. She stood casually as if unsure of what to do with the extra arm, waving her original at Elisha as if to distract from the extra limb.

Elisha reached out to Raven’s new arm and held that new hand with both of hers, causing her friend to roll her eyes -- even if she looked pleased.

“The troll armies of Tenebrim and Khiafin are at our walls. The Gilduirnish Army awaits the command from their beloved two-armed General. What say you, General Raven?”

“Well, I mean, obviously we kick their butts?” Raven smiled brilliantly. “Isn’t that what we do, underlings? Underlings?”

Elisha’s smile faded slightly and she closed an eye in a semi-grimace. “Yaaaay,” she said half-heartedly.

“I have a question Elisha,” Forsythe raised his hand, causing Elisha’s grimace to turn into a cringe.

“What’s up, dad?”

“If I wanted to steal from the ‘two-armed’ General, what would I have to roll?” He asked, lowering his hand.

“You want to steal from Raven? In front of everybody? On the precipice of battle?” Elisha asked blankly.

“Ah, well, when you put it like that…” Forsythe started to shake his head from side to side but the answer that came out of his mouth was still, “yes.”

“If you take something from Raven she will just try to steal it back and then the troll armies will be upon us without our best champion or our ‘two armed’ General,” Hunter pointed out.

“Maybe I would be so good that Raven wouldn’t notice,” Forsythe said after a moment.

“Like hell I wouldn’t notice! What would you even take?” Raven hissed.

“What have you got?” Forsythe turned his head and stared at her meaningfully.

“I’m uncomfortable discussing this!” Raven shook her head.

“I think she still has that poison. The one that was so deadly that when one unstoppers it one must succeed in a constitution save or die just handling it.” Aidan added helpfully, scratching his nose.

“I steal the very deadly poison then,” Forsythe announced triumphantly.

“You have to roll…” Elisha said with that same sort of blankness in her eyes.

“I steal it back!” Raven yelled.

“I steal it again, but subtly this time, and Raven doesn’t notice it.” Forsythe smiled.

“War notices it, and then tells me about it, and then I steal it back.” Raven insisted.

War nodded slowly as if they agreed that was something they would do.

Elisha sighed, “Amelia, Aidan, mom? Is there anything you would like to do before the exciting conclusion of our two year campaign?”

“I pray to my goddess, Elisha the kind, and ask whether the coming battle will produce weal or woe. Here I’ll roll using the system.” Aidan started to reach up to use the AAO dice feature in the menu but Elisha just shook her head, halting him.

“No need to roll. Elisha in her benevolence puts the thought of extreme woe into your head.” Elisha smiled and tried to ignore the bickering from Forsythe and Raven. At this point, they were escalating their back and forth theft by including other items. Raven was going to steal the poison and his sword now. Forsythe would steal his sword, the poison, and her arm.

“I’m just preparing my gear and doing all the last checks before a battle,” Hunter mentioned in amusement. “Do I notice anything that needs extra attention?”

“No, you are prepared. Perhaps one of the few that will make it out of the battle alive,” Elisha said darkly.

“Hey!” Aidan began to protest.

“Remember that time you prayed to your benevolent goddess and asked her if it was Weal or Woe regarding his chances with a certain lady countess in Hangardom?” Elisha muttered.

Aidan shut his mouth. There was a moment where he looked like he still wanted to argue but Amelia chose this moment to elbow him right in the white robes.

“Amelia the Chronicler of the Heavens remembers!”

“Woe,” Aidan said sourly.

“What do you want to do, Amelia?” Elisha switched to party chat because the volume of the argument between Forsythe and Raven had risen in pitch and was now being punctuated by sword clangs. They were fighting literally three feet behind her with swords now.

“I continue to write down the moments leading up to this last fever-pitched battle. If we fall, at least there will be a record of who is largely responsible for the forces of evil and Khiafin rising from obscurity to prominence.” Amelia smiled sweetly. “The ‘two armed’ General and her loyal and steadfast champion, Forsythe.”

“Well done,” Hunter muttered.

“For a moment you feel a warmth and light on your face. Amelia the Heavenly Chronicler basks in the radiance of the kind and benevolent Elisha’s favor.” Elisha sighed.

“How much further is it to Blutonsi?” Aidan asked after a moment. It seemed like their campaign was at a halt. They had stopped for a moment to let Elisha do her speech, and now they were just sort of lazily watching Forsythe and Raven hack at each other with swords.

“Not much further, I think.” Amelia shut her book. There was no reason to record the fight between Forsythe and Raven. Things would peter out before they became too dangerous.

“The map says an hour or so?” Hunter shrugged, looking upward.

“I think maybe you’re going to be delayed!” Casual laughter punctuated the call. Humanoid shapes that had encircled them began to step out of the darkness. The blood red of their names seemed to burn in the air as their laughter increased.

The silence had only lasted a moment as the murderers finished their encirclement and started to move forward. There was no real way of knowing which one was the leader. The one that had spoken was moving forward and letting the long blade of his axe grind in the snow as he walked forward. They all looked comfortable and cruel, like they had done this a hundred times.

“Are we getting robbed?” Aidan exploded. “Are you kidding me?”

“I suppose we could rob you…” A woman from the side said, her eyes drifting over to the fight between Raven and Forsythe. There was the slightest hint of doubt on her face, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Forsythe and Raven hadn’t even bothered to stop.

Hunter stepped slightly in front of Elisha and looked around. Her face was much like Elisha’s had been a moment before. She was looking around blankly like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

War hadn’t moved from his spot, arms casually crossed as he paid half his attention to the new people that had arrived and the other half to the play-fight nearby.

Elisha finally sighed, “woe. So much woe. Maybe it would be better for your murderers if Raven and Forsythe were fighting at full speed. Maybe you’d know this was a bad idea.”

As expected, Forsythe and Raven finally became aware of the crowd of red names.

“What?! The trollish armies of Khiafin and Tenebrim are upon us! Forsythe! To my side! Underlings! Charge!” Raven had stumbled to a halt after narrowly avoiding a beheading move that Forsythe had directed at her and was giving her speech even while she stumbled back upright.

Forsythe hesitated for only half a moment before charging past Raven toward a clump of three archers in the back. It would have been the perfect moment to yell out something equally heroic, but of course, there was just his silence and cold eyes as he rushed forward with his saber outstretched.

Aidan began to laugh even as the band of Transient Player Killers began to react incredulously to being attacked.

Amelia re-opened her book.