Patri was cold laying atop his cot, naked with only a small towel in hand. He was freezing with the winds of Blancana’s early morning rushing through his window… but he was clean. The old guild leader had waded through sewers, bodies, manure, and a few things quite a bit worse than the usual stinking shit a thief may find themselves in; it was part of the job. Another part, for Patri at least, was getting good at quickly scrubbing one’s skin clean after a dirty take. He made sure to get behind the ears just like his mother had when he was young, tore a thick wooden comb through his mangled beard, cleaned his hair with a bottle of something that Senfe had given him not too long ago, and even brushed his teeth with the harsh bristles on a stick that he bought from some merchant years ago.

Patri knew what it was like to half-ass a scrub, thinking you were okay for days on end, only to find a big clot of dry shit on your armpit or leg a week down the road. Some men, and women, that Patri knew could just shrug it off and move on. Patri was not one of those people.

As soon as Mezir’s spinning tower of terror had landed Patri practically threw the young woman in his arms to a guild member on guard out front and heaved out what little food he had left in his aching belly. He hated heights. Mezir knew that.

That cruel, magnificent bastard. Patri couldn’t help but smile in his bed.

He’d just closed his eyes, relishing in the bittersweet joy of reuniting with a dear, dangerous old friend when the door to his quarters creaked open and closed nearly silently. Patri had cut a small hitch in the threshold that made the door creak no matter how careful someone was. Thieves were a cautious bunch, at least the lot he had known, and if one was going to kill the leader of any crew, it usually bodes well to move while they slept. He didn’t move though.

Patri was pretty sure he knew who it was. The room smelled of cinnamon.

“Ay there, old girl, you going to stand there gawking at me the whole day? Or are you going to treat me to a nice groping like a proper pervert?”

A chuckle came from the foot of his cot, a sound that warmed his soul.

Before Patri could open his eyes to look upon the absolute love of his life, she was already down, outside of his view unless he strained his neck greatly to see over his small belly paunch; kissing gently on the inside of either of his thighs.

I missed you. Her lips told him.

“Oh, Legends… I missed you, Senfe.”

I missed you so much. She whispered to his mind as her supple mouth slid closer to his groin.

“I missed you more.” Patri was more erect than the needle of a moon dial.

Senfe smiled, he couldn't see it- but he knew. Her lips twitched upwards, just before his throbbing excitement, just close enough for him to feel.

“These are mighty dangerous games you play, miss.” Patri gave his own smile, using all of his will to force his body to stay still, no matter how badly his hips yearned to buck.

Senfe’s warm breath shot out against him as she let out an almost unperceivable laugh. Patri surely wouldn’t have noticed it if she weren’t so… close. But she was. So he did. And then his body betrayed him with just the slightest jump. A minute thrust upward. Senfe moved up, breathing soft, promising gasps all the while. She stopped as far up as she could and Patri could see the top of her beautiful, curled hair. He watched it bounce as she moved very... graciously.

I win. The blissful enclosure around him screamed as Senfe thrashed her tongue against him.

“Oh, yes… fuck yes” Patri tried to keep his voice down, the walls were pretty thin in the guild house, but she wasn’t making it any easier on him. “Oh… Legends!” He sat up now with his hands in her plush, soft black hair, careful not to impede or change her motions. Or mess up her style- she hated that.

“How in the heavens did I get so lucky?”

With that he felt her smile from inside and nearly lost himself in the pleasure. But Senfe knew him. Knew he’d be close. She came off of him giggling like a giddy woman with a secret. Patri wasn’t sure what was so funny but he didn’t care. Not one bit.

He smiled and threw his hands around her beautiful strawberry chocolate cheeks, imploring her up as he brought his lips down. Senfe happily obliged. With so much passion as his tired body could manage, Patri kissed the most gorgeous woman he’d ever laid eyes on and was in paradise as she pushed even further up, setting her hands on his shoulders before she forced him to lay back down. None too gentle on his still screaming injury. Patri ignored it. All he could feel was Senfe taking her time as she met her soaked and searing southern lips up and along the shaft of his manhood. She took her time on the ascent, keeping their mouths locked all the while- but once she got to the top, Senfe went absolutely wild.

Not once did their faces part as they moaned, breathed into and through one another as their burning bodies meshed. Senfe ground into Patri like a feral animal until he could feel her body approaching ecstasy.

Patri’s couldn’t hold it back any longer. An explosion escaped him and for a moment he felt blissful, lifeless, and happier for it. Senfe held her body hard against his and sighed. They stayed there, entwined until a knock came at the door.

“Right.” Patri tapped her shoulder gently as she laid on top of him.

“We’ve got some things to discuss, love.”

“No shit. The last person I ever expected to see back down here is that goofy bastard.”

***

Amberosin sat with her still stuffed pack in her lap beside her new bandaged friend in the main ‘lobby’ of the guild house, squished into a corner behind the bar. She had lines of sight to each exit here. Just in case. It was truly just a bar. Granted, the establishment was larger than most places of business in the southern district but it ran as usual, serving anyone who may wander in; though it’s basement was for members only.

No coincidence that they stay where the barkeep stashes the spirits, huh?

Amberosin eyed the sleeping bandaged man next to her with a quaint smile and let out a quiet, lonely sigh. He - Silent One, whose true name she was still annoying unaware of - was thinner than she had originally thought and the bandages he wore now were… different. Mezir wouldn’t have dared to remove the man’s wrappings himself as he’d told her, and an ever spaced out Korrin, that they were part of some huge spiritual tradition. “It would be sacrilegious to remove them as his vow is unanswered. So, I had to do my work through them, of course.”

Of course. Fucking miracle worker.

With that, Mezir had left them and followed after Patri downstairs.

Amberosin smiled across the bar at a solitary Korrin who sat with a hand on her eyepatch, stroking it, thinking about something that seemed altogether unpleasant. When Korrin didn’t return a smile Amberosin thought it was mainly because the woman was not really there. Her body, sure, but her mind seemed distant. Korrin’s exposed eye looked vacant to Amberosin… but she didn’t know the woman, so she stayed seated, wondering about the bandages.

How had he looked so big and imposing before? I swore his biceps and forearms were at least double the size they are now. No way it was just casting…

Amberosin’s gaze locked onto Silent One’s bag that she had wrapped about his torso when they fled the garbage barge. She’d bet all the food in her pack if she looked in his brown pelt bag that she’d find multiple sets of colored bandages. But there was no one around to bet. No one was around to stop her snooping, either.

Just a peek for curiosity's sake, I won’t take anything… unless it’s really expensive.

She chuckled at herself as her hand shot forward to the lock on his pack. She’d learned that taking your time thieving, or in this case… peeking... with sleeping people was largely a waste. Sleeping nobles and merchants wouldn’t wake for the world’s collective end. It was easy as ever. Except, just then, her hand stopped. Amberosin’s fingers were on the simple clasp lock but refused to move any more.

I… I can't? No, That's not right… I won’t. He saved me, more than once. I owe him his privacy, at least. Besides, I know I am right about the extra bandages, so…. What does it even matter? It's not like I actually made a b-

As Amberosin’s hand slid away from ‘Silent One’s’ pack she brushed against the bandages he wore, just enough to feel the warmth of his body beneath her freezing fingertips. Tranquility of sorts spread through her body, loosening her tender muscles. The warmth at her fingers traveled up with the expanding peace that overfell her and as it reached the base of her neck, Amberosin’s eyes shot open wide. Massive beams of white light shone from beneath her tinted goggles. Someone was yelling her name, she thought but she wasn’t there. Her body was, sure.

Her mind, however, was far… far away.

***

Ta’K bounded from branch to winding branch of the vast and varied wilder-trees strewn about him. He was in the exact middle of the Ta’ Lands encased in a thick patch of Wilder’s that had been planted and maintained by the Ta’ themselves for thousands of years. Hun’ Ata Bes’ En. Forest of Beasts and Peace. The sacred grounds of their last hunts before the start of the Ta’ Hun. A celebration of peace and prosperity celebrated by all denizens of Noctra and a time when Ta’ would strike against neither beast nor man. No matter the consequence.

He was chasing after his elder brother, Ta’Jir. They were to hunt together as a team, facing off against twelve other groups of two; all young boys ranging from nine to nineteen years of age. Ta’K saw his brother sprinting on the wilder floors below, clearing roots larger than most Ta’ homes with an ease and finesse that he envied greatly. Ta’K wasn’t without his own skills and abilities, however, and he wasn’t going to let his brother win their personal contest without a fight.

The purpose of the last hunt before the Ta’ Hun, Fino Besa-TTa’, or Final Beasting VTa’, was to judge the abilities of the young Ta’ in matters of teamwork, hunting prowess, tracking, and casting. Ta’K and Ta’Jir were both younger than most participants, being eight and twelve respectively, but they were also the only two children of Ta' Uma. The chief of all Ta’ nations. That particular blessing had come with some extra challenges all its own.

Both boys were used to having more than the average expected of them, they were to make good of their namesake and honor their dead. Always. The brothers were on their way to great, legendary adventures together, everyone knew. All too aware of the weight added to their shoulders, the boys tended to find ways to challenge one another at all times, to keep each other sharp. Supposedly.

The challenge this time was to see which of them could land the largest prey from the center of the Ata’ wilders. One usually only saw returning teams of older boys venture out that far and most couldn’t make it back to the game judges in time; not with anything remarkable.

Ta’K had an additional blessing over his brother and the other Ta’, however. His Ta’ Sevin, Venerable Sight, was a birthright passed along only to those born bearing something generally referred to as ‘the mark’. What that really meant to him was that Ta’K had been born missing one of his eyes and the elder Ta’ had gifted him with a sacred mantle. A mantle that allowed him to see and manipulate essence like it was second nature. Most Ta’ struggled for lifetimes to achieve what he was handed. Not one to deny his privileges, Ta’K had used the sight near incessantly and it had shown him a great many tricks.

“Brother! Up here!” Ta’K shouted as he lined himself with his brother from above.

Ta’Jir flashed a toothy grin upwards at his younger sibling, “Careful, little one, I don’t want to be carrying you back to the judges!”

“Ha! Just watch me, big one!”

Ta’K smirked and jumped a clear five feet into the air, aimed for a spot in the thick wilders empty of any branches. His framework eye, the mantle he’d been gifted, flashed a stark white light and gave him a snapshot of the essence around. As easy as breathing, he willed the essence about before him into slabs barely larger than his feet.

“One, two, three, four, five…” Ta’K laughed as he walked higher into the air on steps that would be invisible to his brother below. He could hear Ta’Jir from above the trees but couldn’t quite make out his brother's words, far too enamored by the sight of open-air before him. After a moment he aimed his slabs on a downward slope and appeared back below the thicket of trees a good ten paces ahead of his brother. Through a clearing on his level, he spotted something that would win him their little wager and get both he and his brother the respect of the elder hunters.

“Brother! There, not even seventy paces, if your eyes can see that far, there lies our hunt.” Ta’K spun and floated on essence down to ground level, making sure to stay a few feet ahead of Ta’Jir as he did so. He slowed after a few moments and ran beside his brother, waiting for him to see.

“Oh. Oh!” He screamed when he finally saw it. “That is a completely insane idea. I do believe I’ll take it and the credit when I get back first! Neat trick, by the way, the stairs? But check this out.” Ta’Jir stopped dead mid-sprint. His feet pushed into the dirt like it was wet putty as Noctra wrapped the forest floor about his ankles and calves. Then he shot forth like an arrow leaving a crater as wide as a dreadbeast welp behind him cleaving roots and all that simple regrew a moment later. Whooping traveled back to Ta’K on the wind in his brother’s wake.

As impressed as he was Ta’K refused to be shone up in such a brilliant manner. He commanded the essence about him to form a pathway using his hands to guide each slab into position and used his own essence to propel them each a few feet at a time before they dissipated and he jumped to the next. He was riding the waves of Noctra’s winds after his brother like a hound’s tail behind the hound but he couldn’t quite catch up. Their prey was only getting closer but he still had a chance, Ta’k could do i-

Ta’Jir let out a fierce yell below as he drove his fists downwards and flew forward a good twenty paces in an instant. Ta’K was staring with a slack mouth in utter awe of his brother’s casting from high above the ground, higher than he’d been before when he saw his mistake. When he had poked his head above the canopy of trees, now a good twenty paces behind him at least, he thought he had seen the shape of a baiting dreadbeast with it’s first layer of dermis peeled back and laid flat in hopes of securing an easy meal. But he had been wrong. Ta’K had not seen a dreadbeast baiting. No. He had seen one of the dreadbeast feeding her young beneath her giant sections of colorful dermis. An Alpha Mater that had seemed much, much smaller from a distance. So far as they had been taught there had only ever been five Alpha Mater’s that had birthed all dreadbeasts across Noctra’s regions and four still lived.

No! No Ta’Jir! Stop! He couldn’t yell from where he was for fear of swallowing too much air and not one too few insects. Ta’K gritted his teeth and pushed both fists behind him as he willed all the essence he could cast to shoot out as pure air and propel him forward. While the speed of such a feat was immense he was only able to hold it for a few seconds before falling to the ground in a painfully long roll. Ignoring the stabs of stones and sticks littered about the plains he rolled to his feet and moved to mimic his brother's action from before. He’d seen how the essence moved, he could do it!

By the time Noctra’s soils had wrapped around his own feet in preparation to launch him as it had his brother before him… it was too late.

The Alpha Mater’s flaccid outer dermis had risen to envelop it’s own body, revealing to Ta’Jir what he had been speeding towards. Ta’K could see how his brother strained as he shot forth swathes of essence with such force that it could be followed without using his sight. He was trying desperately to reverse course. At least six dreadbeast had been exposed when the massive Alpha Mater sealed her false skin back about her body and they all pounced at once. Ta’K stood there frozen for what seemed like hours as he watched his brother dodge giant, starving dreadbeast all around. One gashed his leg but he shot high using the earth below him once more. Another snapped a quartered mouth closed on his other leg and slammed Ta’Jir down.

No! No! No! “No!” Ta’K screamed so fiercely he felt blood building from tears in his mouth and a white beam shot forth from his framework eye, knocking him back as it carved a path toward Ta’Jir and the ravenous pack of beasts. The white beam dimmed and thinned slowly before a blue light zipped up it and slammed into Ta’K’s eye. Brother? His framework eye clicked once as if in response. The white light was no more, though standing above the burnt boy was a man adorned all in an all-white cape adorned in gold trim, shaking his head. The sky behind him was burning bright with red and orange…. And black.

That vicious bastard!

***

“Mezir! Mezir! Get the fuck up here, now!” Korrin was banging on the metal door to the basement of the bar so hard she’d busted her knuckles. A man who had tried to stop her from interrupting “guild business” lay beside the door with a nice stain of red across his lips.

Korrin had been minding her own business, fiddling with her eyepatch while she thought, when all of a sudden the wilder girl, Amberosin, started shaking violently. A light exploded out of the young woman’s eyes and projected fuzzy images onto the ceiling.

A boy? Two boys? Some beast? What the fuck is…

Oh great.

Silent One was shaking now himself, hard enough that he had fallen to the ground and knocked over a chair.

“Oh fuck.. Mezir! Get out here you fickle prick!” Korrin yelled louder now and backed up to kick the door with all her might but just then she heard a latch come undone.

Mezir burst through the door and took the scene before him. Blanched.

“Well…. Shit.” Well, shit indeed.