Chapter 049:

Anton stared at the small clay pot full of the shimmering green Kobold poison. It had taken a while for Kal before she could stand properly again. During that time Verona sat with her, making sure she was okay as she could be, while Anton worked on the remaining Kobold spines. Kal wanted to continue to help but he had commanded her to sit at the door. Only his words got her to rest. He was certain she would have tried to work otherwise, with shaking legs and hands wielding a blade. She followed his words and basked in the sun and fresh air. He had collected and drained all the poison that he could find. There was so much, he had to get two more pots for the poison.

Now they all stood at the northern training fields, having taken over a small section of the archery training fields for their tests. Avery was not entirely happy, but Anton promised to get some bowmakers in Graterious for them. Their old bows were beginning to break and fray from age and use, and they only had so many of the new weapons from Maxill. They still had no way of making their own reliably yet. He was looking in the long term where nearly every soldier would use a bow or crossbow. Avery acquiesced after being told that. He looked quite happy, quite a rare thing.

Kal had assured them that she was feeling a little better. She was quite adamant about it when Anton suggested that she could take some more time. Even getting the closest he had seen of her getting angry with him. Now, with Kal wearing the heavy leather gloves, they were planning how to use it on their arrows. Verona leaned around Anton's shoulder and peered into the clay pot as well.

“Can't we use it on our swords and spears as well?” she asked. "Not just arrows."

“We could.” Anton answered. “I don't see any problem with using it like that.”

“Other...Other than if someone manages to grab one of our weapons, and uses it against us...That would be pretty bad.” Verona said with an awkward smile.

“The poison could wear off the blades of the weapon as it was used.” Kal added. "With each cut a bit would be removed."

“Yeah, but the same could be said for an arrow.” Verona countered.

“But....An arrow can be recovered and used again. We could recoat it in poison for the next enemy, even if it's not one of ours.” Kal replied. "And it doesn't need as much to cover it."

Kal brought out an arrow and looked at the iron tip. Verona chuckled, smiling at Kal.

“True. I haven't ever been hit by an arrow. But, I'll guess it's not pleasant.”

Kal shook her head.

“No. I got hit in the back of my leg once. I can't describe the pain.” Kal rubbed the back of her left leg.

“Another hunter?” Anton asked.

Kal winced and nodded. “That, and I once got too close to a battlefield between two of Graterious's noble's armies. They thought I was looting the dead and they shot arrows at me to scare me off, but I got hit.”

“Both of them in the leg?”

Kal nodded.

“I bet that hurt.” Anton stared back into the clay pot. “Kal, can I have one of your arrows?”

Kal handed him one of the iron tipped arrows. He dunked the arrow head into the green liquid and pulled it back out. The liquid stuck to the iron and slowly dribbled off. Anton handed it back to Kal to test the arrow.

She held it delicately, to stop the droplets of Kobold poison from falling on her, and nocked the arrow. She waited until most of the poison had stopped falling. Drawing it back with all her strength, aiming up slightly to compensate for the distance, she loosed the arrow. As ever, it hit the red center of the target.

She smiled and moved to brush the hair off her face. Anton saw a tiny glint of something wet on the edge.

"Don't-" Anton started, but it was too late.

“Ow! Damn it!” Kal cried, dropping her bow and throwing off her gloves.

“What's wrong?” Verona asked. Kal wanted to paw at her face but she held herself back, her hands trembling.

“I rubbed my face with the poison on my glove.” She said, he could see a tiny green droplet near her eye. "I'm so stupid."

Shouldn't have got you to do this so soon...

“Hang on.” Anton held her shoulder and chanted a prayer to make her immune to the Kobold poison. The mana flew out of him and into Kal. Almost immediately she stopped twitching and jumping as her body relaxed.

“That...Thank you.” she said. Now she looked quite embarrassed. She had not yet recovered from this morning.

“We'll still want to get rid of that.” Verona mumbled. She took off her scarf, motioned for Kal to bend down, and removed the poison from her face.

“Thanks again.” Kal mumbled. “I didn't realise that drop got onto the gloves.”

“It seems that all my tests go terribly wrong the first time,” Anton shook his head. “At least this one didn't nearly blow up a wall, or someone.”

“I...” Kal trailed off, like she did not know what to say. Even Verona looked at her confusingly.

“The poison was still wet on the arrow and it dribbled onto your hand.” Verona said. “If I had that on a sword or my spear, and I spun around, I could hit the people fighting with me. Or myself.”

“Though.” Anton began. “From what I heard about the battle with the Kobolds, you could have charged out with those blood shards and just walked through them.”

Verona thought deeply then smiled. “I could have. There's a thought about my power. I also need to find out about why that disk of mine didn't work.”

“We'll have a talk about that later.” Anton said. “Going off my magic, I have a few thoughts about why that might have happened. Why it just flew off in the end.”

Verona's smile grew even wider, far more intense than usual. He was not sure why though.

“But, we should focus on one thing at a time.”

“Right.” Verona nodded and turned back to Kal.

She already had another arrow ready.

“Could we please try again, Kal?”

Kal dunked the next arrow head into the pot. When she brought it out she held it over pot and allowed the drops to fall back into the pot.

"If the poison is dried onto the head, will it still work?" Kal asked.

"It might take a bit longer to work." Anton said. "Since it'll take a few moments for the poison to dissolve into the blood. But the poison should still work."

"Rather than just having it go straight in through the liquid blood." Verona added.

"Correct." Anton gave her a pat. "I think...But I don't think it'll matter in combat. Kal, when you were hit by the arrow, did you rip it out right away or did you take a few moments?"

Kal frowned and twisted around to see the back of her legs. "I...I was stunned at first, the pain and shock that I felt at the time was so much that I didn't even think about it. I just wanted to run away. I snapped off the end off, but not right away."

Verona bumped her hands together.

"Then it doesn't matter if it takes a bit longer to get into the blood."

"It'll only be a few seconds at the very worst before they're writhing in pain."

"So, do I just blow on it to dry it?" Kal asked. "Or..."

"I suppose." Anton said with a shrug.

Kal raised the arrow and began to dry it. She looked quite awkward as they both watched her, Verona holding back a laugh. Quickly the poison dried onto the iron arrow head. Now it was just a thin green sheen cover, one that was no dribbling off. Kal looked rather proud of what she had done.

"Okay. I'll give this a go then."

Kal aimed her bow at the target and loosed her arrow. The arrow struck the outside of the target with a satisfying whump. Kal checked her gloves and showed that they were dry. A few crystals of the dried poison could have transferred, but it seemed a lot better than before.

"I suppose we could make some large racks and hang some of these up until they're dry." Anton began. "Though we don't know how long this stuff will keep. I think that's going to be difficult thing to test-"

A shout rang out from the northern gate. Most of the villagers present stopped and looked. A quick shout and their training resumed in earnest. Guards on top of the gate ordered it to be opened. A beleaguered horse and terrified rider emerged. He made straight for Anton, he was one of the riders he yelled at the other day. Avery saw the confusion and arrived at the same time as the rider.

"Sir, I have an urgent report to pass on."

Avery arrived at Anton's side and said nothing. The rider took this as an instruction to continue.

"The watch post has seen hundreds, no, thousands of lights descending from the mountains to the north."

"Coming here?" Verona asked, her hand gripping tightly on the spear.

The rider shook his head.

"No. They came down to the base of the mountain and headed west to the forest. By now most would have entered there."

"What colour where they?" Anton asked.

The rider coughed. "The scouts said that some were green and black, while others were brown and grey, almost silver. I...I don't know what that means."

"Orcs." Anton said quietly.

"And Deweth Clansmen." Kal added. "Lots of them."

"Fuck. At least they're not coming here." Avery joked, though Anton was sure that he did not fully mean it.

"Yeah." Verona scoffed at Avery.

Kal turned to him, a deep frown of concern on her face. "You said this might happen to Duchess Belinda. That an attack might be coming from the west to their city."

"And this is it." Anton felt ill. There was a critical decision to be make, and very little time in which to make it.

He turned to the nearest soldiers that he could see.

"Find everyone on the council and tell them that there is another emergency meeting. I don't care what they're doing, they need to be there now."

All saluted, perhaps a little shocked by his voice, and ran towards the village. Anton let out a sigh as he brushed his fingers through his hair. Today was not going to be one that he would forget any time soon.

---[]---

The council chamber was crowded once again. It did not take the members long to gather, though Anton's message had left them somewhat puzzled. As they entered they asked what the problem was; if the creatures from beneath the mountain had emerged, if Nithroel had broken their agreement and a horde of Kobolds was coming, or if the Green Goblins had decided to attack. But Anton told them that they would be told all at once. The rider stood to the side, his hands fidgeting nervously as he watched the members gather.

With the last people assembled the rider gave the report. Everyone's exhaustion disappeared as the rider gave his report and Anton gave his thoughts on the events, adding what he had said to Duchess Belinda about the potential attack. When he was done everyone looked very shaken. Bertram was the first to speak.

“Thank you.” Bertram said, nodding to the rider. “Make sure you get something to eat before you head back.”

“Thank you, I'll do just that.” The rider saluted and left the room, giving a nod to Jeff and Dana, which was returned. Anton was sure that he had conflicted feelings about returning to the mountain.

Bertram clapped his hands to gather their attention. “So...We don't know for certain if these are the Orcs and Deweth Clansmen you warned us about. But-”

“I think it's pretty clear that it's them.” Anton said. He did not know where his attitude was coming from. The others seemed a little surpised by this as well. Usually he just steered people in the right direction.

“Sorry.” Anton mumbled in apology.

Jeff turned to Kal, who was sitting next to Verona.

“Kal, do you know of any monsters or beasts that would do something like that?”

Kal stared at him for a moment, quickly looking down at her twiddling fingers. Everyone was waiting on her answer.

“Not that I know of.” she said, looking up at everyone. “Goblins would not move so obviously. And the other creatures around here, like the Rock-Rat's, wouldn't either. Only humans...I mean, there are Orcs there as well, but only creatures like that would move with light and fire so openly and brazenly.”

“I doubt that it's a bunch of traders heading to Maxill. Not that many. So, it's an attack on Qaiviel.” Verona mumbled. “So, the question is, what do we do about them?”

“Not if we should?” Jeff asked. He seemed to be mirroring quite a few concerned faces.

Verona shook her head. “I'm pretty sure that it's clear that we get involved.” she glanced at Raston. “And not just because of the bondsmen we freed from Maxill, but for the future of Atros. Of keeping every ally we can. It might sound a little harsh, but...”

She gave Anton's hand a squeeze. “We only have one friend that we can talk and trade with outside of Atros. One place. One place that we can actually get stuff to help us.”

I'm more impressed by you by the second. Thanks for saying that.

Strange...Nithroel did say that there were roughly three thousand people in our side of the agreement. So, where are rest? I doubt they could be stronger than us...Focus on the task at hand.

“Exactly.” Anton said. “We can't just leave them to their doom. There could be thousands, tens of thousands of Orcs and Clansmen making a beeline straight to Maxill. And from what I remember, the city won't last long. They barely had decent wooden walls, not even stone. Though, they were fixing it up when we left. Then they'll be dead and we'll have to head to Graterious to find help.”

“So...” Jeff looked rather awkward. “We should help out somehow. Are we...Are we going to muster all the soldiers we can?”

Anton shook his head, patting Verona on the head.

“If you are willing...” Verona nodded. “Then the two of us will head there to fight.”

“Just you two?” Kal asked.

Anton shrugged. “We can't bring the army. It'll leave Atros exposed. The smaller and quieter we are the better.”

“Right...” Kal trailed off and frowned, looking down at the table.

Anton coughed, to get the conversation moving again and looked at Dana, “We'll need to borrow some horses, so we get there before the army.”

“Do you know how to ride a horse?” she asked incredulously.

“No. But I do know how to steer one of the Ix creatures.”

Dana held back a scoff. “From the back of a cart, maybe. But riding a horse properly is a lot more difficult.”

“What happens if the Clansmen or Orcs find out you helped their enemies?” Jonathan asked, worry clearly plastered over his face. “If they find out where you come from, not that I am doubting you will win, but is it not possible that they will come for us?”

He was clearly very worried. “We were almost wiped out by some Goblins and Kobolds...I do not know if we can survive against an organised enemy like that.”

“We...” Anton glanced around the room, snapping his fingers. “We'll pretend to be mercenaries in the employ of Duchess Belinda. That way we won't lead anyone back to here.”

“And.” Verona continued. “We'll make sure that's the only thing said about us. That'll probably mean we'll have to talk to the Duchess soon after we arrive, just so she doesn't blab or anything.”

“I hope she go along with it.” Anton said. “But, thank you for the point, Jonathan.”

“Dana? Can you give us some training?” Verona asked.

Kal was mumbling something as she pinched hard on her forehead. She was not sharing what she was thinking about.

“I'm going to have to.” Dana said with a rare smile. “If I don't, you could just get thrown off and break your neck. Not something anyone wants.”

She looked towards the north. “How long do you have?”

“If they're on foot.” Anton began. “Which I think they are, I want to be gone before lunch.”

Dana sighed in exasperation. “I can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can. I don't think you'll be able to fight, like we do from horseback, but you'll be able to get them going in the right direction.”

Sam chuckled. “Though, with you two, that's all you'll need.”

“Thank you.” Anton said. “Can I ask someone to prepare some food and water for us? We'll need all the practice we can get.”

“We'll get on it.” Sam said, giving Sybil a quick glance. “Anything in particular?”

Anton shrugged as he stood up from his chair. “So long as it's light and not going to sit in our stomach and slow our mind's.”

“Got it.”

Verona stood up as well, followed by Dana. Dennis, the new Sheriff, looked around worryingly. Anton caught his eye. He coughed and began speaking, stopping Anton from leaving the room.

“The people have been asking the deputies about what happened in the mountain.” he began. “Some of the soldiers saw and heard your lightning magic.”

“What did you tell them?” Anton asked, resting his hands on a chair.

Dennis smiled. “Exactly what was agreed upon. That you closed the mountain's entrances, and that you three dealt with a few Rock-Rat's before they became a problem. But...” He sighed. “There's no way that people are not going to see you two leaving Atros and not ask questions. We can't just say that you two are leaving for Maxill because you want to.”

Dennis glanced to Raston. Anton did not know their relationship, he hoped it was decent as he was dating her sister.

“News that Raston, and a few soldiers, will be heading to Maxill soon is already widely known. If you two leave, and Raston doesn't, it's going to raise some very awkward questions.”

“Tell them the truth.” Verona said, looking for reassurance from Anton. “That we're heading to Maxill to save them from a slaughter.”

Dennis nodded.

“It'll make the newer bondsmen feel a lot better that we're doing something about it.” Anton said.

“Though, not as much as them knowing that their old home, along with their friends and family still there, are under threat.” Raston said.

“There's very little we can do about that,” Anton said, “Unless they all want to come with us. Though they'd probably get in the way. I'm not trying to be rude...”

“I understand.” Raston lowered his head.

Anton moved over, patting him on the shoulder. “Don't worry. We'll save everyone that we can.”

A quick tug on his sleeve caught his attention. It was Kal, a determined look on her face.

“I've got something that I need to do.” Kal said. “Don't leave before I'm done.”

“Okay. I was going to ask, do you-”

Before he could say anything else Kal ran through the door and out of the building, her cloak trailing well behind her. Everybody remained still, slowly looking to him.

“Is she alright?” Jeff asked.

“She has been acting a little strange lately.” Sam added.

Anton did not want to even allude to what she had told him. That was something private and not to be shared. He shook his head.

“I don't know.” Anton replied. “But I'm sure she'll be fine. We need to keep moving though. I'll catch up with her before we go. Find out is she wants to come along. I don't particularly want to leave her alone, but it'll be up to her.”

Thinking about Kal did bring up a question in his mind. Did he want her to come along? To a place where she could be killed instantly if she so much as showed her face? He did not have a proper answer as he left the room.

---[]---

The sun was almost straight above them as Anton and Verona were doing their best to get a wrangle on their horses. They were practising on the far western side of Atros, outside of the secondary wall. It was very difficult at the beginning, but Dana and her riders had given them the easiest horses they had to learn on. They were not the strongest or the fastest horses. However they were much faster than walking or going via an Ix drawn cart. Despite being told they were docile it was still a bit difficult to get a good handle on them.

Kal had disappeared after the council meeting had ended and nobody had seen her since. It was very hard to miss her moving through the villagers, the only person wearing a full cloak. And having dark aqua hair. And long furred ears. Some time had passed and she had yet to emerge. He was starting to get a bit worried about her.

“Anton?” a voice called out to him, Dana's.

“Sorry.” Anton said, pulling back on the reins. “Got a little distracted there.”

“I thought you would be okay with a battle.” Dana asked.

She looked over at Verona. She was having some trouble at making the horse move in the right direction, as her occasional shout of annoyance demonstrated. Although she was getting better at controlling it. Seeing that they were looking at her, Verona brought the horse close to them.

“This guy's pretty hard to control.” She mumbled through a happy smile. “But, I'm getting there.”

Dana patted the muzzle of the horse. “He's a good one. Very nice to new people.”

“Do you think we're ready enough?” Anton asked.

Dana smiled bitterly. “Honestly, I would want you to have quite a bit more time to practice, but I don't think you have the time.”

Anton looked to the north. From where he stood he could not see the bottom of the mountain range, but he guessed that the army had already moved on. Another rider had come back and delivered another report, that the force had moved completely into the forest. They were moving quite fast. In order to catch them they would have to leave soon.

“But you'll be able to get it through that forest, so long as you don't ask them to go anywhere stupid.”

“I've been through there four times.” Anton answered. “Verona two, so we should have no problem in getting through the forest.”

“Damn right.” Verona said proudly.

“We shouldn't wait much longer.” Anton looked to the forest. “Let's go get our food, say our goodbye's and then get going.”

Verona nodded, dismounting from her horse. She had a little trouble mounting the horse, thanks to her size. She needed a little help up unless she wanted an undignified attempt. Anton dismounted as well. He turned to Dana while holding onto the reins.

“Could you hold onto these for a moment?” he asked.

Dana did not answer but took the reins for both horses. Verona stopped a few meters from the gate, her head tilted quizzically. Infront of her was Sybil, Sam, Jeff and a few of the other elderly villagers. Each had small cloth bags in their hands, along with some things that looked like water skins.

“I thought we were going to head back inside Atros for a proper send off.” Verona smiled back at him.

“We decided that time was starting to run out.” Sam said. “So we decided to come to you.”

Dana brought the horses closer and helped them load up the supplies.

“Thanks everyone.” Anton smiled. “I have no idea when we'll be back. If something happens out there...” Anton shrugged. “Continue as best you can.”

“It won't come to that.” Jeff chuckled confidently.

Anton was glad that he had such faith in him. He had dealt with many of the Yellow Goblins, but they were not that intelligent. Fighting thousands of humans and orcs, creatures that could think imaginatively and creatively, exploiting real weaknesses, would be very different.

“You're right.” he said, offering his hand. “It won't.”

Jeff shook it roughly.

“Wait!” a voice screamed from within Atros.

Everyone turned to the source. It was Kal, running like she was the wind. Her face was red from exertion and lightly covered in sweat. She wore all of her weapons and quite a few small cloth bags attached to her waist.

“Don't leave yet.” she said, moving past Jeff to Anton's side.

"I was going to try and track you down before we left." Anton said, Kal breathing deeply to cool down. The small beads of sweat coming down her tanned face looked strangely alluring.

“Are you coming with us?” Verona asked, glancing at Anton. “I thought that you might not want to come along, since we'll be heading to a place where people hate Beast-kin.”

Kal hesitated, scrunching her hands tight.

“I know. But...You.” she pointed at Anton, frowning deeply with a hint of anger and annoyance, something he expected that she would never do to him. “Said that you are going to be fighting, a lot of fighting, in a place where you've never been before. Your going to need a guide. Someone that can actually read the land and signs. Someone like me.”

“Have you been there before?” Anton asked, trying his best to not be offensive.

Kal shook her head. “No. But, I know how to travel and track things better than the both of you.”

You do...

Anton glanced at Verona, who looked as equally surprised. However, it quickly changed to amusement.

“I...I may be overstepping my position and my place here, but I want to come along with you. I can use a bow, I know how to track animals, I-”

“Okay. Your coming with us.” Anton said, Kal's eyes opening wide in surprise and relief. Even a brief smile graced her face. “Do you know how to ride a horse?”

Kal quickly recovered from her stunned state. “No...No. I've never had the chance to ride one. They would make me stand out too much in the wilderness.”

“Huh.” Verona nodded, pursing her lips. She looked back at the rest of her horse. “Well? Get on.”

Kal seemed stunned again. Verona grumbled and jerked her head again to her horse.

“Yes...Thank you.” Kal bowed her head, and mounted Verona's horse with a running jump. Had she done that before?

Sam moved forward and closer to both of them, speaking in a soft enough voice that he could not hear. Jeff, Bertram and Sybil came up to him.

“Good luck.” Jeff said. “We would come with you if we could.”

“Thanks.” Anton said. “Maybe on the next adventure. We might want to bring some extra people with us to Graterious.”

Jeff chuckled and patted him again, helping Anton onto his mount. Bertram handed him another small bag. Inside were five Karak fruits.

“I definitely think you'll need these.” Bertram patted the side of the horse. “But...these are all we have left.”

“Are we out? Or is the tree dying?”

Bertram chuckled. “It's fine. But the fruit take a bit of time to grow, and there's a new batch coming through.”

“While I'm gone, is it possible for you to see about growing some more?”

“I've tried to grow the seeds.” Sybil shrugged. “But they don't just seem to be taking.”

“That's...That's very annoying. Can it be grown from a branch? From a bud?”

Sybil looked at him blankly. “No. We haven't tried that. We'll give it a go.”

Anton gave them another nod. A burst of laughter from Sam and Verona caught his attention. He had no idea what they could possibly be laughing about, but they seemed happy. Kal even looked like she was fighting back laughter. That was nice to see.

“By the way.” Jeff began. “Do you have that Red silver crystal thing? From what I've heard it would be very good to have with you when go through the forest.”

“Damn.” Anton grumbled. “Getting a bit ahead of myself. Does anyone know where it is?”

Jeff smiled, pulling the large crystal out of one of the bags he had handed over. Anton felt a wave of relief.

“I'll be sure to get you something in the Kingdom for your efforts.” Anton said. “Any ideas?”

Jeff looked towards Verona, Anton caught him looking at the silver barrette.

“Something like that?” Anton asked quietly, Sam letting out another laugh.

“How about a ring?” there was a slight flush to his face.

“I'll get you a good one.” Anton replied, Jeff gave him a quick nod.

“Are we going?” Verona asked. Anton nodded.

“Let's go then.” he gave the reins a whip and started the horses towards the forest.

“Good luck!” they shouted after them, waving madly.

They gave one final look and wave back before bringing the horses into a full run, towards the forest track to Maxill.

---[]---

Three days later they arrived at the lake in the center of the forest. Anton had never felt so tired or sore. Every part of his legs and butt ached from the bouncing on the back of the horse. It was made even worse by the rough terrain and the horses having trouble moving so quickly over the rocks and hollows of the dense forest. The path that they followed was terribly painful moving fast, last time they were moving at walking pace.

They had to push their horses hard to arrive at Maxill first. He did not use the prayer power to heal himself, just in case he ran into any of the Clansmen and Orcs on the way. So far they had found no sign of them, though they should have been travelling far to the south of their main army. Kal led the tracking but she did not seem so disappointed that she was not able to find them this time.

She said that all Beast-kin feared the Deweth Clansmen as much as the Seocurian slavers...What the hell do they do to Beast-kin? No wonder she's not disappointed to find them.

A whimper from behind him distracted him from his aching legs. Kal was sitting behind him, keeping a great effort to keep any part of her body from touching his. She had swapped horses from time to time, to give the other a little break from the extra weight. Anton was expecting Verona to object but she said nothing. He hoped that it was not some sort of test that he was failing at.

“Thank the gods that we got here first.” Verona said, admiring the crystal clear water of the lake. “We don't have time for a swim, do we?”

Most of her focus was on Kal. She was certainly determined to see her tail, or any part of her hidden Beast-kin body. She would be furious to know that he had seen, and held, her Beast-kin digitrade feet first.

“While I would love to do that, to properly wash the grime off, we don't.” Anton said. Verona did not look too disappointed. “But, we should make sure that nothing bad has been through here...like some Orcs or Clansmen.”

He turned back and caught Kal's eyes. She smiled and nodded, gracefully hopping of the horse. Kal started to prowl around the nearby edge of the lake while Anton and Verona allowed the horses to get some water to drink. They both started to gather more water for themselves when Kal grunted loudly, loud enough to catch their attention over the sound of horses drinking.

“We've got a problem.” she said, standing up and looking along the dirt and sandy edge. “There are many footprints along here.”

“They're not animal footprints?” Verona asked, receiving an odd look from Kal. “I'm not doubting you, but there are quite a few creatures living in this forest.”

Kal shook her head.

“No. These look like your two feet.” she glanced down at her own. “Unlike mine.”

“What do you mean?” Verona asked flatly.

“Oh.” Anton walked back to the horses. “When she got stabbed, in the foot by the wolf's teeth, I got a look at her feet.”

Verona scrunched up her face. “So you got to see her feet? Before me?” She punched him playfully in the arm, “I thought-”

“Shush!” Kal blurted out. She lurched towards them, covering Verona's mouth, getting a look of utter surprise. Kal removed her hand, Verona not objecting, and readied her bow.

“What's happening?” Anton whispered.

“There's a lot of creatures coming torwards us.” she answered. “I don't know what, but I can hear them rustling through the undergrowth. Very noisy. Not a real hunter.”

“But...” Verona looked back at her horse. “We've got the red crystal thing.”

“Then it's not goblin's then.” Anton said worryingly.

He offered his hand to Verona, who used her dagger to make a shallow cut. Her body glowed red as she drew up a small cup full of blood before removing her blade. The blood slowly formed into crystal sphere, hovering infront of her face.

“Charge!” A booming voice cried out from the forest, reverberating through the trees. The bushes rustled violently. Twenty burly human men and women emerged, smiling and laughing.

“Vikings?” Anton said aloud, getting an odd look from Verona and Kal.

They looked nothing like Anton had seen before. No human he had met in this world look like this. Each was clearly over two meters tall and seemingly just as wide. Both genders were incredibly muscular in form and there was little to distinguish between the two. Covering their bodies was a mixture of chain mail and furs, an odd but intimidating look. They did not wear horned helmets, like he half expected them to, instead just a normal iron helm. What was most striking was the large axe they wielded in both hands. The dull iron axe heads were larger than their own heads. Each were lightly bloodied and yet the edge still gleamed through the blood, they would easily carve through a person. Especially with the size and the strength of the person wielding it.

The intruders slowed down as their eyes tracked to Verona, and her glowing red body. It gave them pause. They glanced at one another but refused to advance, their previous bravdo and strength was gone.

A particularly large man came forward and pointed his axe at them. He had no issues with holding the imense axe with one hand outstretched. An intimidating act. If they didn't have magic on their side.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” he asked in a deep growling voice.

Slowly the other soldiers started to fan out, but they kept themselves within Anton's field of vision.

“We're travellers.” Anton answered, somewhat truthfully. "Just trying to pass through peacefully."

“No. You're not one of....What are you doing here?” he asked again. His face, riddled with scars and already growing red, gave off a vibe that he had a very short temper.

“Are those Deweth Clansmen?” Anton whispered to Kal.

She did not answer him, remaining completely still, until her gave her a tiny bump on the shoulder. Without turning to face him she nodded.

“Yes. But I don't know which clan they are from. They don't have any marks on them. I don't know why they're hiding them. There normally so proud about them. I've never seen them like this.”

Anton looked more closely. On their chests, on a large piece of leather, were many scouring marks. Whatever their clan allegiance was they had removed it. Probably for this attack.

Does it mean that they're not entirely confident about this attack of theirs working? So they don't have to suffer political fallout if it goes wrong? Guess that says something about them if it's true.

“And who are you?” Anton asked.

“We're travellers too.” the man answered with a wide smirk.

“Not Deweth Clansmen about to attack the Qaiviel Kingdom?” Anton chided.

Any faked warmth drained from their faces.

“How do you think you know that?” another clansmen asked.

“I presume that you don't mean to let us live regardless? Since you've just told us you are?”

The leader spat onto the ground, bringing his axe to his side.

“Did you hear that from her?”

For a moment he thought he was talking about Kal, but it was focused on Verona. She looked as stunned as they did.

“Me?” Verona asked, throwing up both brows.

The clansmen frowned deeply, bringing up his axe, reading to attack.

“Why is someone from the Silver Eagle Clan here? You're on the other side of the Clans territory and not involved here. Why are you here?”

Why...? Oh, right. The silver hair. Guess that explains why she's the only one...Not that it really matters to me.

“Guess that explains why you're the only one with silver hair.” Anton said quietly.

Verona hummed, beginning to split the blood crystal sphere into tiny fragments.

“Why are you helping them?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Verona replied. “And. I don't care. I'm not part of whatever clan you think I am. So, no. I didn't tell anyone anything. About your invasion.”

“That's a shame.”

Anton readied the magic in his mind, preparing to summon lightning and fire bombs.

“I suppose that a human, a beast-kin and a little Blood Berserker won't be much of a problem.” All the clansmen readied their weapons. “I've killed Blood Berserker's before, that little blood sphere is just a bluff. Just like the last two I killed."

The others chuckled. "She's still using a spear. Just one of you be ready to take a hit while the rest kill her.”

“You sure about that?” Verona asked smugly, lowering her spear to attack while the crystal blood sphere began to break apart.

The lead clansmen frowned as he took a step back. He was not stupid, but the others seemed to miss it. He waved the others forward while he moved behind the others.

Must have just been some really weak Blood Bersekers then. Jira didn't seem to concerned if Verona died. Guess that makes us both stupidly powerful then...We'll just have to wait for the next person to emerge with a glyph, or an actual mage, and see what happens there.

Anton bumped Kal's shoulder again. “Loose an arrow at them. We don't want them running off when I use my magic. Make them angry.”

Kal nodded, quickly drawing her bow and loosing an arrow at the closest Clansmen. It struck her in the throat, through a gap in the chain mail armour. All the clansmen were stunned as the woman slowly slumped to the ground as her bloody hands clutched ineffectually at the arrow jutting out from her throat.

I don't think that was my intention...But...

A snarl came from the lead clansmen.

“Kill them!”

Each clansmen roared as they charged, bringing their mighty axes backwards, ready for a devastating strike.

Verona just smiled and broke the blood sphere into ten shards, throwing them at the closest charging clansmen with a flick of her wrist. The closest four received the shards in the face. The shards crashed through their eyes and out through the back of their skulls, their lifeless bodies sliding limp along the grass.

Seeing their comrades falling so easily, the clansmen skidded to a halt in surprise. They raised their axes to act as a shield. Each looked confused as to whether they should continue the attack.

Do they not have shields? Or do they just rely on their strength to just overwhelm the enemy? Do they not have to deal with archers in their homelands?

Verona did not wait, withdrawing the shards from the dead clansmen and bringing them back. Kal readied another arrow, Anton saw a glint of green covering the iron head.

Oh? I guess that's what she wanted to do before we left. I like it. This should be fun.

“Kal, hit the leader.” he received a quick glance from her. “You know what I mean. Verona, you and I will take care of the rest.”

Verona nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself. She flexed her hands as she surveyed the dead clansmen.

“You doing alright?” Anton asked.

“Yeah. I'm-”

“Fucking love rats!” the lead clansmen yelled. “What are you waiting for! Why aren't they dead yet? She's a tough Berserker, just swarm her.”

“What about me?” Anton asked, summoning lightning and fire bombs.

The light emanating from his magic mesmerised the clansmen. Many began to try and slowly step back. Anton did not give them that chance, throwing the bombs straight at them. Kal loosed her arrow in the confusion. Clansmen screamed as the lightning tore apart their bodies and the fire burned those that were left, leaving the leader clansmen alive and alone. Kal's arrow stuck out of his right shoulder, though his eyes were fixed on his screaming companions.

It was over. Barely a few seconds of fighting.

We really are too powerful in this world...

“What...What are you?” the lead Clansmen asked, his hand clutching at the arrow.

Slowly his eyes were focusing more on the arrow than on them. He pulled the arrow free and glanced at the iron head.

“Ah!” he yelled out as his arm and fingers began to spasm, quickly falling to the ground on his back.

“Do we kill him?” Verona asked, moving forward and stabbing the dead bodies with the crystal shards. “We can't take him with us.”

“Let's just talk to him for now.” Anton moved close to the man while standing out of range of any potential attack. Kal followed closely with her bow still drawn and aimed at his head.

“Hey, can you hear me?”

“What the fuck was on that?” he asked through short and laboured breaths. Already great beads of sweat were forming on his face as the shaking began to spread through his body.

“Kobold poison.” the clansmen's eyes widened in shock. “I didn't know what it would do if it got inside somebody. Although, a Kobold once got hit in the face and he just died instantly, so...”

He barred his teeth as he tried to stand, Verona hit him in the leg with a blunted crystal shard, sending him back down. Anton took one of the clay pots off of Verona's hip, receiving an odd and silent glance.

“I have the antidote here, just in case one of us got got hit.” He tossed it up in the air, deliberately making it seem like he would drop it. “So, you're going to answer a few questions before I give you any of this.”

“Fine.” he spat out, clutching his right shoulder with all his strength. “Whatever you want.”

Anton knelt down, placing the pot next to his feet. He missed Verona and Kal looking at one another with a look of deep concern on their faces. He focused on the man infront.

“How many are there of you in this attack on Qaiviel?”

“Ah, there's thirty thousand Clansmen and same again of Orcs from the Wrath of Doom.”

Good to know that Lazgar wasn't lying about the Orcs and Clansmen teaming up. Shame that we might be killing his people.

“Where are they headed?”

“A border town called Maxill, they're going to ransack the city and attack deeper into the Thieves Kingdom.”

“Is this an attack in support of another on the border forts at where the Qaiviel Kingdom and the Deweth Clansmen territory meet?”

A deep frown formed on his face. “How do you think you know these things?”

“Just a bit of conjecture.” Anton replied with a shrug, the clansmen clearly not understanding. “But, you'll answer if you want the antidote.”

“I...I think it is.” he answered. “It's only what I've heard from others. I wasn't a part of that.”

“Okay.” Anton looked back at Verona and Kal. “Do you have anything that might be useful to ask?”

“Why are you here?” Verona asked. “Is it for water, or are you guys some sort of rear guard?”

The clansmen's shaking had extended to most of his body now. He was in a very bad way, Anton hoped that he would be willing to answer anything for the chance at life.

“We're chasing some hunters that are prowling the forest and picking us off.

“Last one, are there any more of you between here and Maxill? Or is the army north of here?”

He started to laugh as the spasms overtook his face.

"You...You don't have an antidote, do you?” he barked angrily.

Anton shrugged. “Sort of, but not in here.”

He showed the empty contents of the pot, the clansmen half chuckling and grunting.

“If you're going to try and save that stupid red haired bitch, you're too late....Our army is already besieging it by now. Thousands of Orc and Clansmen against a pathetic few.” He smiled widely. “You three aren't enough to save her from us.”

With what was left of his strength he raised himself up on his elbows. “I hope...”

His eyes rolled backwards as his mouth began to froth. A second later his body fell down limp. Verona poked him with the spear, there was no sign of movement.

“I suppose I'll just make sure then.” she mumbled, thrusting her spear through his throat. There was no movement.

“I can't believe that it worked so fast.” Kal pulled out her arrow, cleaning off the blood, and returned it to her quiver. "There's no way he could get help in a battle. Just one arrow...and you're dead..."

“It really is really dangerous if it gets into ya'.” Verona chuckled as she shook her head. “I wish I could use that in my blood power. Though, if I mix anything with it, I can't control it. Perhaps when I have greater control over my magic.”

“Did we end up getting some water before this?” Anton asked.

They looked over to where they had left the horses. During the fighting they had left. The lightning and fire had spooked the beasts. Now they trotted anxiously near the very edge of the grassland around the lake.

“Come on.” Verona tried to wave them over to no effect. “It's fine now.”

The horses were extremely spooked by the glow coming off of Verona. When she turned off her power, after placing the blood into one of her blood vials, they were quickly rounded up.

“When did you get that poison?” he asked Kal, waiting for Verona to get both horses under control.

“I thought that I was meant to come along with you both from the beginning.” Kal said. “So, I took the venom and dried it onto the arrow heads. Getting everything ready took far longer than I thought. That's why I took so long and I yelled out for you to stop.”

"I was about to ask you at the end. But then you ran off."

"You could have said that I was coming with you from the start."

Anton scratched his head awkwardly. "I...I didn't know if you wanted to come with us to another Kingdom like this. A Human Kingdom to fight a war."

Kal frowned angrily, raising her fist like she was going to hit him. Instead she poked him hard in the chest.

"I told you...I told you that I would follow you to the depths of hell. And I meant it. So...Don't try and keep me out of things."

Anton pursed his lips. He reached out and patted Kal's head.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask straight away. It won't happen again."

Kal smiled as she looked over at Verona, who had caught both and was now coming towards them.

"Good. And thank you for saying that."

“By the way Kal, do you have the Kobold poison with you?”

She slapped the bottom of her quiver. “I've got it in here. I've bound it really tight so it won't leak out. There's a thick layer of cloth so it doesn't get damaged by the arrows."

“I think we'll be needing that again soon.”

“I'm sorry that I didn't tell you.” Kal bowed her head slightly.

Anton smiled and patted her on the head.

“It's fine. Though, I'm glad I could trust you with that.” he said, “Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten the information out of the clansmen.”

“Trust huh...” Kal frowned as she looked down, something was trying to force its way out. Whatever it was she decided to keep it to herself, again. She opened her mouth just as Verona yelled out.

“Right! Got 'em!” Verona said proudly. “That was a bit of fun, wasn't it?”

“Are you alright?” Anton asked. “That was quite a few people that you fought.”

Verona looked around at the dead bodies. “You killed quite a few yourself.”

She chuckled and waved her hands. “But...I feel fine. I don't have the shivers, so long as I keep myself in control.” She glanced towards the west. “If what they said was right, we don't have time to waste.”

“What do we do with the bodies?” Kal asked. “We could gather some supplies from them? We find something valuable?”

“Only a few minutes.” Anton replied. “But we need to keep moving.”

“Right.”

They quickly searched through the dead and torn bodies for anything of value. All they found were a few pieces of food and hidden weapons but little else. Kal's point about them scoring off their markings extended even more deeply than just the mark on the chest. Other markings, on their weapons and other parts of their clothing had been completely removed of any identifying marks. Though, it was still clear that they were from the Deweth Clans. Though not which clan.

“I've got nothing.” Verona said disappointed.

“Me neither.” Anton added.

They looked to Kal, still rifling through a corpse.

“Anything?” he asked.

Kal stood up and shook her head. "Five silver coins. That's all."

“That's a shame. I thought we might have been able to get something out of them. Alright, we need to get moving. We'll leave the wolves to deal with this.” Anton looked towards the west. “If he was telling the truth then we need to hurry.”

They left in a hurry, working the horses as hard as they could. He hoped that the city could hold until they arrived. And that they could actually do some good.

--------------

Hello everyone!

Got the Kobold poison arrows made, and their first use. Very dangerous and will be seen again.

So, the Clansmen and Orcs are the big attack for this arc, not that much of a surprise, but still. The sheer scale of the attack is quite large, so it'll take more than just Anton and Verona's magic to win.

A bit of info on the Deweth Clansmen, such as they are big norse warriors. Quite aggressive and very strong. These ones at least.

That's it.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for any and all donations.