Azrael smiled under the shadows of his cloak, as he approached the village gates with slow unhurried steps. He resisted the urge to scratch some drying blood from his skin. It was one of his lesser thought-out plans, but what was done was done. He just needed to roll with it.

On his way here he’d found a half-eaten bison, leftover from some beasts’ hunt. Inspired, he’d used its blood to draw markings on his body. It was a decision he was still coming to regret.

The dried bison blood was just as itchy as the cloak, except it covered his entire skin. Once again supressing the urge to scratch it, he looked at the two men. From the way they were shaking in their boots it seemed that it was worthwhile sacrifice.

He stopped just outside of the fire light and let the two squirm for a moment, before speaking in his lowest possible voice.

“Men have walked the hallowed grounds, have strayed upon the forest bounds. Know your sins and mend your ways, else suffer – till your ending days.”

He sent a bit of mana into the brazier, igniting it and letting it flare up as he spoke. It brought the slightly glistening blood on his skin into stark relief, while deepening the shadows he hid behind. Unconsciously, the men gulped.

To his credit the swordsman took a step in his direction and pointed his sword at Azrael.

“Be gone spirit, we have no quarrel with you.” He said with a steady voice, the perfect image of a confident guard. The shaking of the sword ruined the effect a bit, but Azrael gave him a mark for trying. Actually… Azrael squinted a bit taking a step towards the man for a better look. The quivering blade was only a hand’s breadth away from his chest. The black hair on this guy was familiar. It was the same sword bastard that had killed him! Azrael grinned. It was time for some payback.

***

Beneath his collar Valek was sweating profusely. It was guard duty like any other, when this figure appeared. Cloaked in shadow it had walked towards them with a fearless confidence, as if it owned the whole world. Even the fire recognised the danger this figure presented, flaring in warning at its spoken words. Now, it was barely a hands breath away from the tip of his sword, looking at him and grinning. A sudden lunge and he could end it all, except he found himself frozen by fear.

The creature stood there, fearlessly, as if knowing that he couldn’t move, its pristine teeth glowing in the firelight, while the rest of its face lay obscured under a wolf’s head.

“Sinner!” The voice suddenly spat, causing Valek to flinch. “You have watered the trees with blood of the innocent.”

Valek’s mind went into overdrive, trying to recall when he’d been near the forest was when he’d… the exhibitionist. He’d killed that naked exhibitionist, when he’d been forced on a hunt with one of the village boys.

Most of the guild stationed here were out on exploration, leaving them shorthanded in the village. This in turn had meant that he’d had to take on the task. He’d chased after an adolescent bull, which had bolted when they’d branded it.

It had escaped, but not before managing to set one of the houses on fire. In the end they trapped it, subduing it by the forest, only to be assaulted by that exhibitionist.

He shuddered when he recalled the fight. It had been a hard, bloody battle. Now it seemed he’d angered a spirit of the forest. He really was unlucky, wasn’t he?

***

Azrael took pleasure in watching the man squirm. It seemed he did remember. Not that it changed anything.

It was time for act two.

Drawing out threads of his mana he let it roll to the earth, before guiding it forward, just under the gate. It took all of his concentration to keep it together. Each meter further from him exponentially increased the mental strain.

The gate had been at the edge of his range, forcing him to step closer. Scared that the swordsman would recover from fear any moment and stab him, he quickly converted the whole thing to fire mana.

The gate blew off its crude hinges, flying into the sky, before landing on the ground in an explosion of timber. Ash and flames rained down, while mangled bits of wood lay scattered on the ground, charred. The air was filled with the smell of smoke.

He strode forward, ignoring the two incapacitated guards. The guard with the spear had his leg impaled by a large piece of wood, while the other had vanished beneath the broken remains of the gate.

It was a bit of a bloody beginning, but he made an exception this time. This was all so he could avoid killing in the future. Checking his mana, he slowly he began walking through the open gate. He should have enough to pull this off. Afterall, he only needed to do one more demonstration of strength before leaving.

The exploding gate drew in everyone’s attention. A whole group of men staggered out of one of the buildings. Two of the four staggered a bit more than the others, while the third openly clutched a bottle. Two more emerged from another building and began shouting orders. They were obviously of higher ranking than the drinkers. All of them wore a black armband with a white sheep insignia.

Seemingly unworried Azrael continued striding down the main street, using mana to leave flaming footprints. The footprints themselves served no practical purpose, but they didn’t know that, and he liked the theatrical flair. He stopped before the group. Silence stretched out into the night.

Above them night had fallen, giving rise to a silver full moon. Its ghastly light lent strength to the shadows, while illuminating the scene below.

Their commander stepped forward.

“Identify yourself!”

Azrael didn’t react, instead silently watching the group. Satisfied that they wouldn’t be moving until they were certain on who, or what he was, he began channelling his mana.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Azrael continued ignoring him, while pushing out more mana. Things would quickly escalate from here, but before…

“You are currently trespassing on claimed land. If you do not identify yourself, we will be forced to escort you off these premises”

Aaaand there it was. Internally Azrael began to smile. This guy almost made it too easy.

“Men have walked the hallowed grounds, have strayed upon the forest bounds. Know your sins and mend your ways, else suffer – till your ending days.”

“This is your final warning.”

If Azrael hadn’t been so busy concentrating on controlling mana he might have smiled.

“Men have walked the hallowed grounds, have strayed upon the forest bounds. Know your sins and mend your ways, else suffer – till your ending days.”

The commander raised his hand. “Free Sheep ATTACK!”

It took all of Azrael’s willpower not to laugh at that one and he almost lost control of his mana construct. Luckily, he managed to quickly get it under control and not a moment too soon. As the four men charged, he ignited his mana.

A wall of flames roared into being, covering the main street. For moment the defenders hesitated, before jumping through. The battle had begun.