IL’E, Frosthold, Westgate

The shadows shifted ever so slightly as the sun began to set, above a low branch bordering the end of the forest two cloaks appeared out of the shadows. “Is that them?” one cloaked man asked his colleague, both of them wearing iron masks painted white that hid their identity along grey and white cloth clothing matching the snowy terrain.

“That is most of them” the woman responded as she also watched the group at the gate closely, Kyle and Karnage had caught up with Skill and were watching as Kurt came rushing towards them with Reyna on his back.

“Three heroes travelling together definitely makes our job easier, what a stroke of fate” the man mused as the shadows between the both of them shifted.

A third man appeared wearing the same attire along leather patches of armour for his larger build “The last one recently died, he’ll be appearing shortly” he spoke in a deep voice as he commanded the other two “Kess go on ahead, Vulk watch the left flank. The commander has put his trust in us, let’s not let him down”.

The other two leaped away leaving behind a trail of shadows as they moved, the third stood up while perfectly balancing himself on the branch. He raised his right hand to his mouth “Unit four intercepting three targets, two sighted, third arriving momentarily.” he spoke but no magic or equipment was visible.

Draxxer’s voice responded “Target call signs?” he asked.

“Target three has just appeared sir” the man stated as he watched Sly respawn “Targets Frost, Dagger and Rain accounted for.”

Draxxer sighed “Keep a close eye on them warrant officer, you’ve got some slippery targets there Klein”

Klein shook his head “Yes Sir. Unit four out.” he lowered his arm as he watched Sly walk up to a tree and slam an aura clad fist into it’s trunk “Did he make Kess?” he suddenly crouched back down.

“GOD DAMNIT!” Sly cursed loudly as he punched the tree, his face warped in anger as he watched his knuckles bleed. He backed off from the tree and spat at the ground “There goes all my damn loot!”

“What happened?” Kyle asked as he approached cautiously.

“Damned elite turned out to be a fucking world boss that’s what, ate me up in one bite!” Sly explained with arms wide.

“The hell? There’s world bosses in this world?” Skill asked as he chuckled in amusement, him and Karnage were helping Reyna off the direwolf as she trembled from the shock.

“Is she…going to be okay?” Karnage asked as she shouldered Reyna while lowered her to the ground, she wore a worried expression while staring at the traumatized healer.

Sly glanced at her and shrugged “How should I know? Shouldn’t have signed up if she’s going to be a crying mess the whole trip” he turned to Skill “What’s the road plan?”

Skill opened his map “We need mounts so we’ll have to head to Carn for those, no mounts to be found here. From there we’ll-” he was cut off midway.

“What’s your problem?” Karnage suddenly exclaimed while holding onto Reyna’s trembling shoulder, she glared at Sly as he turned to glare back.

Sly smirked “Oh excuse me, have I said something wrong?”

Karnage stood up “Look at her! This is normal! We aren’t born warriors! Stop thinking everyone can just shrug it off like some maniac!” blood rushed to her face as she spoke.

Sly stared at her as she glared red faced back at him, he grimaced and turned to give her his back “Maniac huh?”.

Kyle stepped in between them “Karnage wai-”

Sly began to laugh causing Karnage’s eyes to widen in surprise, he glanced back “Tell me, does this world seem like some magical fantasy? Some walk into a child’s story book?”

Karnage opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

“How long do you think we’d survive if we all thought like that? How many do you think would still be alive by tomorrow if we did not have respawns?” his expression was dead serious as he spoke “Dealing with your own view on how shit went down isn’t enough, being strong enough to survive on your own isn’t enough”.

Sly clenched his fists as he glanced away “I don’t care what it does to your head, I don’t care what you think about it and I certainly don’t care about what use to be considered normal. If it means keeping you fucks alive for another day” he glanced back “Then I’ll keep throwing you to the wolves until you come back without a single scratch”.

Karnage grimaced as she glanced down at Reyna who was staring in surprise at Sly “That won’t work for everyone…you can’t force everyone into changing…”

Kyle sighed “Then they’ll have to find their own way, if they cannot…” he glanced back at the healer “They’ll just be dead weight we’ll have to ditch” his expression cold and uncaring.

Karnage stared at him in horror “That’s…”

“Inhumane?” Skill chuckled as he began walking by the rest of the group “Wake up chica, you’re not even human anymore”.

Karnage glanced between the three of them (“They’re right…they are but…”) she thought while grinding her teeth.

“Then what’s the point?” Reyna suddenly spoke up, she was kneeling on the ground hugging herself “Why even fight? Why even consider seeing things that way if that’s how we’re going to live from now on!?” her face red from all the crying.

Sly shrugged again before turning around and then walking up to her “That’s something you’ll have to figure out yourself in time” he crouched down “Back at the dens, what did you think of me?”

She leaned away not daring to meet his gaze “I..”

“You thought ‘He’s a monster’, ‘is he human?’ or something alike didn’t you?” he smiled coldly.

Reyna shook her head as she continued to glance away “No I-”

Sly smirked and suddenly raised his right hand over her head “Keep seeing me like that then, why? Because I am one, I gave up trying to be the other. Then also remember, take your time adapting to all this. This monster will give you all as much as possible, take your time but remember…time is something we don’t have. Not anymore.“ he patted her head before standing up.

He walked off as Skill and Kyle smirked while glancing back at him, he passed by them and slapped the back of their heads “Move it” he ordered.

“Aye aye…” Skill declared while rubbing the injury, he followed along with the direwolf.

Kyle glanced back while holding onto the back of his head “Let’s go” he gestured at the other two before also following behind them.

“Yeah…” Karnage responded, she turned around and forwarded her hand to Reyna.

Reyna stared at the hand momentarily before grimacing “Thank you…” she did not take the hand but instead forced herself to stand “I’m…fine…” she stated in almost a whisper, she set the mace she was previously hugging onto on a hook embedded to her belt along her small round shield.

Karnage nodded “Come on then, let’s go.” She watched in surprise as Reyna nodded back, they both followed after the rest of their party.