At the center of the western rim near the Woods of Prismor, there existed a hamlet.

Situated on a hill overlooking the forest, it had walls as high as six men standing on each other’s shoulders surrounding the settlement.

A roofed watchtower was positioned on the side of the walls closest to the forest. At the top, a grizzled man in leathers sat behind a desk as he looked over some papers with illustrations and charts.

“Warden! We’ve got a party of four incoming! Coming from southeast by south!” a voice called out from below the tower.

The man, Loen, looked up from his work as he thought about what he had heard. If a party came directly from the south, then they may have come from the outpost south of them.

However, if they came from southeast of their location, then they more likely came back from an expedition in Noctalum.

It would’ve been easy to dismiss the situation if they came from any other direction, but only Dragonspine Ridge; the entryway to Noctalum, was the only notable location to the southeast of their position.

Loen pulled out a well-worn leatherbound book from under his desk and checked its contents.

The book held logs and records of any party or group that may have been assigned any work in Noctalum.

Seeing that none of the qualified groups have recently been given a mission, Loen’s eyes grew sterner.

Whoever is in this party, they were either stupid and went against Guild protocol regarding expedition guidelines… or they got caught up in something outside of their control.

There was also the off chance that they were people completely unrelated to the Guild, but it’s highly unlikely that anyone from the Four Empires would be stupid enough to do anything related to Prismordia without the counsel of the Guild; not after the last disaster.

That leaves only the first two likely possibilities and the only way to know for sure is to meet this party of four.

Loen put on a wide-brimmed leather hat hanging off a chair on the side and grabbed a sword. He also pulled out an item under his desk wrapped in a cloth that was as long as his arm and hung it on his back.

Finally putting on his cloak, he went out the door and leapt off the side of the tower.

Despite the tower being over twenty meters high, Loen landed on the ground with the grace of a cat as he quietly stood up and went on his way.

Four men and one woman in similar clothes joined him at his side as they went off to meet the party.

Looking at the group of four from afar, he recognized one of them immediately.

Gern, an outspoken but reliable former sword captain from the Kingdom of Great Albirion. While he was a reliable sword, his history almost made his name synonymous to trouble; giving Loen a poor impression of the man. It wasn’t the man’s fault, but it seemed like Rivald; the trickster god, enjoyed dealing him a dirty hand each time.

If he was with this party, then Loen’s earlier assumptions now leaned towards the latter.

“Loen! Can’t believe I’m glad ta see ya! Shit’s gon’ down real bad an’ we need your ‘elp!”

A sigh escaped Loen’s mouth. He didn’t know what Gern’s current party was doing in Noctalum since they don’t have anyone with the qualifications, but with his involvement, it could only mean big trouble.

But even Loen would never have expected the kind of trouble they have brought this time.

***

The changeling looked on at the massive creature making its way to their home.

Even from the top of their cliffside cave, the top of the creature’s back was barely in line with where they stood.

Racking its brain for the knowledge regarding the beast, it didn’t find much. Whatever knowledge the original owner possessed, it lacked detailed information regarding the behemoth before it.

All it could determine was that the creature was called a Greater Armatect and was known as a “living siege weapon”.

It didn’t know what a siege weapon was and from what it could understand, this creature was capable of wiping out entire settlements.

Not really sure what that means and how dangerous it really is, but what the changeling could visually determine was that it was incredibly slow but highly armored.

Since it was slow, the changeling turned around as it thought to prepare traps and get ready for its arrival. However, as soon as the changeling moved, a chill went down its spine and a vague sense of death seemed to be coming towards it.

Turning around in time just to see something brown and massive heading towards it, the changeling got hit squarely in the front as it was launched towards the back of the cave with explosive force.

It happened too suddenly. The two pups and the little Fae ran to the back in a panic to check the changeling’s well-being.

Embedded onto the wall at the back was what appeared to be a round boulder. The cracks at the side of the wall and how deeply it was embedded clearly indicated the amount of force it was launched at.

Fearful of the changeling’s fate, the others tried to scratch and move the boulder but as they neared, it suddenly began to tremble and slowly shift forward.

Coming out while holding the boulder at the sides, the changeling appeared fine with its entire body having grown larger while covered in plate-like scales.

It felt incredibly lucky. Although the attack wouldn’t have killed it, the damage would have been much greater had it not absorbed the wargscales from before.

The hardness of their back plates was truly outstanding as they were virtually unscathed from the attack when the changeling converted the said plates into a natural scale armor.

To the relief of the pups and Fae, the changeling seemed fine as it carried the boulder like it hardly weighed anything.

Looking closely at the “boulder”, it found that it wasn’t made of usual rock or the materials you find in the dirt. Absorbing a few grains of it, it determined that the “rock” is a calculus; in other words, a mineral stone that forms inside a body or an organ of a creature.

Seeing the size of it, it had a suspicion as to where it came from.

Going back to the mouth of the cave, it looked towards the monstrous living mountain again as it was now closer. Now paying more attention, it noticed its neck started to bulge when a familiar round object came out of its mouth to be firmly gripped in its jaws.

It turned towards them again and just as the changeling confirmed, it fired another “rock” using its mouth like a cannon.

Now closer, the projectile flew at a speed that in the blink of an eye, it was already too late to avoid it.

However, this time the changeling was prepared. Instantly, its arm grew twice its size while covered in wargscale plates as it positioned its hand before the stone’s trajectory.

With a loud boom and a small shockwave blowing dust and stone all over, it seemed that this attack was more devastating than the last.

However, as the dust cleared, the changeling stood firm despite the ground at its feet having furrowed from the impact; the stone clearly in its grasp.

As if to show its defiance of the beast’s attempts to take advantage of long ranged attacks, the changeling made a show by attempting to crush the massive calculus in its hand.

It seemed nothing happened at first, but soon cracks appeared on the stone’s surface. With a loud resounding crack, the massive stone shattered in its grasp.

The little Fae danced and cheered while the two pups howled in pride at the changeling's display of power.

Feeling uplifted and confident due to the three's cheering behind it, the changeling flexed its arms at the beast to show its dominance.

Screeching in response to the changeling’s actions, the shell on the Armatect’s back suddenly opened. It then began to turn around while still crawling towards them.

Contrary to what they expected, no wings appeared from under its shell. Confused at what the beast was trying to do, the changeling looked closer and was horrified to find multiple large openings surrounding the sides of the beast’s bulbous body.

Stopping and finally facing them with its back, the changeling grabbed the two pups and the little Fae as quickly as it could when it realized what the behemoth was planning to do.

True to its title as a “living siege weapon,” the Greater Armatect open fired.

***

In the heart of the Faelands, under the leaves of the great white tree, seven Fae of varying forms sat on its roots as they faced one another.

“Fellow Lords… it saddens me to say, but Syldrasil weeps. We’ve lost six of our kin.” spoke a woman with light pink skin and white flowing hair filled with flowers while her body was covered in what appeared to be cotton.

Another who seemed to be a man made of stone and earth looked towards her as he asked in a voice like grating stone, “Do we know what harmed our fellow fae?”

The woman shook her head as she sighed. “Only that they are from beyond the veil… vile miasma was felt in the wake of our kin’s slaying.”

An orange man with glowing eyes and hair seemingly like flame flared up at her words. “Vile Nachtnamari! How much more do they wish to torment us with their presence!”

“Easy, Amver.” soothed a vague feminine form seemingly made of mists. “We will know soon of our foes. A child of the dayfly come bearing news. The whispers of the wind tell me so.”

Just as the wind Fae had mentioned it, a sudden buzzing green ball of light zipped through the branches as it sped through the white tree.

Unable to stop in time, it smacked right into the face of a man who appeared to be covered in dark green fur while possessing the antlers and ears of a deer.

The man held onto the little ball and carefully cupped it in his hand while calming it down.

“Easy little fellow, you’re safe now. Come, speak to us of what you’ve seen.”

The little ball’s buzzing wings slowed as it finally came to a stop in his hands. It then began to blink as if it were sending signals, slowly losing its green hue.

All the eyes of the Fae in the circle collectively widened. The news the little one brought was more dire than any of them would have expected.

“So… we face the horrors of the Red King once more…” spoke the man with antlers, his face stern.

The orange man of flame fumed. “Those blasted fleshlings! We made a pact! They know of the terror of the Red King and yet they brought this upon us!”

“While it is true their actions brought this about, it cannot be denied that we need their help.” voiced a woman with sapphire eyes and hair of cobalt blue. “Is it possible to contact the one called… Jortus?”

“Indeed, currently the greatest we’ve seen of the mortal fleshlings…” mused the man of rock and stone as the earth moved when he gestured with his hand. “It is done. I have sent the call for the Magister of the Wilds. He will contact us as soon as he can, but as for the other matter…”

When his words trailed off, the Fae looked towards their final member.

A beautiful woman of verdant green wearing a robe of flowers as if she were nature and beaty itself made manifest, looked towards her kin.

“…my daughter will be fine. I know not where she is, but through Syldrasil I can know that she is safe. The matter regarding the Red King is of greater import.”

The other Fae nodded in response.

The green furred man with antlers stood as he grabbed his neck seemingly twisting it and letting out some popping sounds.

“Well then… it has been some time, but us Spirit Lords must prepare… for the Red King comes… along with his army of decay.”

***