— Some time before the gate invasion —

Darkness had descended onto this land known as Falmart. The night was still, calm as any normal person would naturally be fast asleep at this time. However, this wasn’t the case at a forest a little ways from Alnus Hill.

A man ran desperately as if trying to get away from someone, something. He wore the standard Empire’s uniform heading towards the nearest encampment. From the look of the scars that littered his entire body, you could tell he was no stranger to combat. No, he was a veteran that had seen some glorious battles which contrasted to the terrified look on his face as he kept running.

He kept glancing at his rear, looking for his pursuer and though he couldn’t see it, he knew it was on his tail. He stumbled over a branch that laid on the ground but quickly jolted up and continued his escape. He could see the camp just up ahead, the light from the campfires still visible in the distance. He ran until he finally reached it and looked around in horror.

He stood there, gasping for air from his run as he saw the bloodbath that was his camp. Bodies were littered everywhere; the corpses were torn apart by what seemed to be some kind of animal. Body parts were hung all over in full display. The faces of these poor victims had fear and shock painted all over them. Hope had disappeared from eyes, he knew he wasn’t going to return home from this. He wasn’t going to get to see his beloved daughter any more.

As he begins to get lost in his thoughts of his child, anger begins to swell in him. ‘My compatriots, they deserved better than this. To be robbed of a glorious death in battle and instead slaughtered like animals. Well they will not have me so easily,’ he thinks to himself.

Just then a javelin flies at him as he barely rolls out of the way to dodge it. He quickly regains his footing, taking out his slingshot and prepares to fire in retaliation. As he scans the area and sees something move from behind the bushes he launches his projectile from his sling. Hearing a short yelp brings a satisfactory smile to his face, he hit his mark. As he prepares another shot, an arrow strikes at his shoulder blade causing him to drop his weapon and grabs his right shoulder. He quickly drops and runs straight for cover behind a wagon stationed nearby as he’s struck again on his thigh.

He sat behind cover panting and holding his new injury as he gritted his teeth. He knew pulling them out would do more harm so he proceeded to break the arrows for now and leave the heads in. He notices a sword lying near a dead corpse and begins to reach for it quickly to avoid being shot again. Unbeknownst to him, the sniper, a concealed male elf, had already repositioned himself to get another shot and was ready to take it.

But before the assailant could fire, he heard a rapid rhythm of footsteps approaching behind him. He quickly turns while dropping his bow and beginning to draw his knife when he feels an intense pain for an instant. Shock was frozen on his face as his head slowly detaches from his body. As his life begins to fade he catches a glimpse of his killer; a Warrior Bunny donning a tribal battle outfit. She wore a carved up metal chest plate with fur lining that covered her chest and upper back with matching forearm and shin guards with the same fur lining. She had an armored belt and loincloth that ran pretty low. A sturdy headband wrapped around with cheek guards attached on it. Feathers jutted out of different parts of her armor piece with tribal markings completing her look. She lifts her leg to push the body away from her as it drops lifelessly and continues to move through the bushes.

The Imperial soldier watched the spectacle unfold uncertain if they’re turning on their own or if this was an entirely new group. But he wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip and began to stumble along, picking up one of the numerous shields still littered on the ground. He continued to move in the direction of a town that the Empire’s troops had passed a few days ago.

Another javelin flies towards the wounded soldier but he quickly deflects with his shield. However the projectile is soon followed by a massive hairy creature, a Volralden. He slammed into him, knocking him over and quickly lifting him up a few feet off the ground. He wore an unusual armor piece that he’d never seen before, designed specifically to fight in this environment. But before he could bite down on him, the Imperial attempted to strike the large beast with his gladius but his arm suddenly was unable to move. The Volralden held the imperial’s arm in place as he attempted to break free. The assailant smiles at the soldier, almost taunting him as he proceeds to bend his arm back slowly until a sudden snap could be heard. The soldier let out a painful yelp as he dropped his weapon, now at the mercy of this beast which began to bite down hard on his shoulder.

A painful scream soon followed as the soldier attempted to break free when the Volralden suddenly released its grip and dropped the man. The wounded soldier watched as the attacker took a swing towards its back. A female orange-haired brown-striped Cat-people rolls back, crouches, and pounces back towards him. She wore the same battle armor as the Warrior Bunny albeit a few slight changes like shorts instead of a loincloth with metal thigh pads along the side. More armor covering her arms that attached to a type of metal clawed gauntlets and clawed footwear.

The Volralden took a few steps back while holding his blood drenched face trying to keep his eyes on the Cat-person. But she refused to give him time to recover and relentlessly charged at him striking different parts of his body. The Volralden attempted to block or dodge her attacks but she was relentless. Her speed and flexibility gave her the edge against him.

The wounded soldier watched on as he laid there slowly bleeding out. But he kept an eye on the marvelous spectacle before him. The Cat-person gracefully dodged and weaved and struck at any openings she saw. It was like a beautiful dance of death that was amazing to look at and dangerous to be on the receiving end. He was envious, that should’ve been his final fight, then he wouldn’t have minded dying here but instead he is slowly bleeding out.

The Volralden surrendered to his fate, kneeling there, covered in lacerations, looking up at the Cat-person and panting. He sighed and closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She stands there looking down at her prey with anger as she reaches for a blade behind her on her lower back; It was a peculiar, short blackened blade. She holds the weapon tightly as she lifts the Volralden’s head by its fur and jabs the blade deep into his neck. She continues upward quickly going to his jaw, splitting his jawbone and releases her grip on his fur as he keels over to the side. She wipes the blade, sheathes it and looks over to the side as the Warrior Bunny makes her way to her.

“Beautifully done Nelia, but how many times do I have to tell you not to toy with your prey,” the Warrior Bunny says to the Cat-person.

The Cat-person just shrugs and lifts her arms up about half way as if to say ‘and?’ while giving a cheeky smile. “But it’s his fault for not standing still; besides, my way is funner. And well he’s dead so isn’t that all that matters, Malena?” Nelia responds.

Malena just sighs and continues. “Because that’s what they do Nelia, and if we do it, that makes us no better than these sacks of wyvern crap. Just watch how far you go with it. Now..” Malena trails off as her and Nelia face the dying soldier.

He weakly lifts his arm and beckons them to come over. They obliged the man and walked over to him, they knew he wasn’t going to make it. As they kneel before him, he tears a type of charm he had placed around his neck and extends his arm with it to the Cat-person.

“Please, return this to my family in the capital. Return this to my Arelia, tell them Marcus went down fighting,” he says as Nelia takes the charm from him.

“We will make sure they get it,” she assured him.

“And I cannot die like this,” he says while pointing to Nelia’s blade. “I am a warrior. Give me a fitting end. One that I deserve.”

She places her hand on the hilt of her blade and nods. She unsheathes it while Malena gives her final words to the man.

“You were a fine warrior, it really is a shame and a waste. May your afterlife be as peaceful as your former life was glorious,” she tells him while giving Nelia the signal to finish him. He closes his eyes. She thrusts her blade into his heart, killing him instantly.

“May your soul rest in peace,” Nelia says as she pulls out her blade from the body, cleans it and puts it away. She then proceeds to lift his hands and place them on his stomach.

“It really is such a shame. But we accomplished our goal. Now let’s see if Aldon and Kryuune were as successful,” Malena says as they walk over to the dead Volralden. She crouches down to retrieves something from the corpse and places it in a small pouch she had strapped around her lower back.

“So you got the other one too then?” Nelia asks.

“Yes, and if the others were successful then this should be all of them.”

“Finally, I was getting restless coming after these damned wyvern piles. Honestly, it’s no fun coming after them, it just feels like a job.”

“That’s because it is, Nelia. We were tasked to find them and we did.”

“I know,” she sighs. “I would be happy if they all just decided to jump in a ditch?”

“If it were only that easy. Now let us move, we have to go meet up with the others. Thanks to you, we now have another task to take care of before our main mission,” she says as they start walking and she points to the pouch that Nelia had placed the charm in.

“Well, I had to do it. It was not right just leaving him there.”

“I know, I am not blaming you. I would have done the same if you had not.”

They continue down their path towards the direction of their companions, the scent of gore still fresh in the air. They didn’t have to walk very far as they noticed two cloaked figures heading in their direction. They quickly went for cover, one heading to the left, the other went right. They positioned themselves ready to attack just in case their companions had failed. The two figures kept walking in their direction nonchalantly and when they were in between both of them, they stopped.

One of them dropped their cloak revealing a long blonde-haired, blue-eyed elf. He wore sleek armored forearms and shin guards. He had more armor going up to his shoulder on his dominant arm but most of his body barely had any armor; just darkened garments that were more for concealment and assassinations than a brawl. His bottom part of his face was covered, only really revealing his eyes while small sheathed blades covered his body, easily accessible when needed. He pulls down his mask and begins to speak.

“You know, I understand. With a face this devilishly handsome, I would not be able to keep my hands off me too. It is not the first time I have been surrounded by beautiful women, you know.”

What followed was a small gust spell from the other cloaked figure that pushed him face first into the ground. The sight of Aldon’s face planted into the ground drew out Nelia as she burst into laughter. Malena soon followed, coming out from the bushes with a giant smirk on her face. The still cloaked figure drops her hood revealing a blue-feathered siren.

“You know your mouth has a real bad habit of getting you into trouble, Aldon,” Malena chuckles while trying her hardest to hold back her laughter and keep a serious demeanor. Nelia, still reeling in laughter at the elf’s expense.

“Well it’s to be expected, it’s also not the first time they have attacked me too, heh,” Aldon responds while rubbing his face and slowly getting up.

“If you are killed by a deranged woman at an unknown town in a sleazy inn instead of in the field, we will disown you and pretend to never have known you,” Malena jokes but with a serious demeanor that would make you think she was serious about it. She then looks over to the blue-haired siren who waited patiently for them to finish their shenanigans.

“You know you two were careless, Kryuune. We sensed you two coming from way back there, almost as if you were purposely making yourselves known,” Malena points out. “What if it was not us and those individuals of caragon dung had bested us?”

“Then we would be dead too. I knew you two would kill them and if by some miracle they did finish you two off, we would not have fared any better,” Kryuune admits.

“Yeah, I mean if you could not stop them, how could we have?” Aldon chimes in.

“Awww, you hear that Malena? We have fans,” Nelia jokes.

“Well we were referring to Malena, but whatever makes you feel better,” Kryuune says while Nelia sticks her tongue out at her.

“Ahaha, who knew you would have a sense of humor. But now, how did you two fare?” Malena asks.

Kryuune brings out two items that they’d taken from their targets and handed them to her. It was the same items that Malena had taken from her targets, some sheathed worn out blades that didn’t seem to have any real value to them.

“Excellent, we’re done here,” Malena responds as she puts them away. “Now If you are ready, let us head back to Sebille at the inn. We have got somewhere else to be now.”

“Somewhere else?” Kryuune asks, confused and bothered. “I thought the gate was our next priority? Sneak into their ranks and be apart of the first wave to stake our claim.”

“I know how important this is, but we have already made a pledge,” Malena responds as Kryuune nods, understanding what that meant. “I will explain when we are all together at the inn.”

— Some time later, in a nearby town —

As the party approaches the inn, all members are fully cloaked to avert much attention from the townsfolk. But those who’ve interacted with these individuals knew who they were and that earned them some admiration from those ignorant enough to know that they were adventurers. They quickly enter the inn and begin to head upstairs to their room when Aldon breaks away from them for a moment to order a drink to bring up.

“Aldon!” Malena sternly orders him back.

“One moment, this won’t take long,” he responds as he picks up the mug and continues with them.

As they approach the door, Malena begins to knock on it in some sort of pattern and slowly begins to open the door. As they move in, a sharp needle-like object the size of a small pencil flies directly at them as Malena raises her hand and uses her forearm guard to deflect the object, directing it towards Aldon’s mug; its contents now spilling over onto the floor.

“What the hell!! I just ordered that!” Aldon shouts into the room as a blue aura reveals herself from cover. The aura turned out to be a small fairy that was giggling at Aldon’s expense.

“Sebille, have you forgotten the knock already?” Kryuune asks

“Just testing out your reflexes, cannot have you all going rusty, you know,” Sebille says in a cheery tone.

“That could have been dangerous.”

“How so? I mean I got my intended target, Aldon,” she chuckles as she quickly dodges an emptied mug from him.

“Just so you know, you are cleaning that, you little rat with wings,” Aldon teases.

A visible annoyance comes over Sebille’s face but before this continues and gets out of hand, Malena steps in to get everyone focused.

“Always bickering like children you two. Sebille, Aldon, you will both take care of this mess after we are done discussing.”

Baffled, Aldon responds, “why me?! She is the one who tried to kill us.”

Malena merely points to the fresh new hole in the wall that seemed to have been made with a blunt object while a mug lay a few feet from it.

“Ohh…,” was all he could say.

“Alright, everyone just group up.” They each began to circle around and sit near the end of one of the beds in the room as Malena sat at the very top. “Alright, some of you are not going to like what I have to say, but we are heading back to the capital.”

“What?! That far?” Aldon asks. “Why would you take on something like this when we are so close to establishing a new home for us?”

“Relax Aldon, even if we make it through, it is not like we can get started right away. Since we are missing the most important thing,” Kryuune reassures him.

Sebille looks around confused, feeling the only one left out so Nelia begins to explain.

“There was a dying man there, in the center of those animals’ domain. A warrior who, on his dying breath, begged for us to deliver something to his family, to an Arelia, and I accepted. I chose to honor the warrior’s request.”

The looks on some of their faces were disapproving but they understood what she meant.

“But if we go that far, we will miss out on being in the first waves of this invasion. We will not make it back in time and the spoils will only go to the Empire,” Aldon complains.

“I know, but we all know that we have to see this through. If we hurry, we can make it back to be in the second wave or at the very least trail right behind the first to pick up anything missed,” Malena responds.

“It is okay by me,” Sebille chimes in. “Maybe it is fate; maybe there is a reason why we are not going in first. I mean we do not even know what will be on the other side.”

“Do you really believe that?” Kryuune asks the little sprite.

“I mean did we only stumble upon those people in the forest by accident and now have received another quest in the middle of that one. It is just a feeling, but maybe we should not go in just yet.”

“Hmm, I mean, those savages could have been waiting in that forest for the invasion just like us, but I see what you mean,” Aldon agrees, surprising everyone.

“Well whatever the reason, we are heading to the capital now. Everyone get ready to go; the sooner we get there the sooner we can return. We might even make the next wave,” Malena orders as everyone begins to gather up their belongings. She ponders what Sebille had said and dismisses it, hurrying with her stuff.

— sometime after the invasion,Alnus Hill —

The ground shook heavily as lights could be seen from a distance. The explosions could be heard along with the screams of thousands of wounded until it all fell silent. The site was horrific; it was as if the hill itself had erupted, enveloping the Empire in fire and ash. Red balls of light illuminated the entire hill with the gate clearly visible atop of it with what appeared to be the enemy spilling out from it.

The adventuring party, the Honestus Venators, stood side by side in awe. No words could describe the sight that laid before them. Malena looked on, breathing heavily, engulfed in fear. The other party members were not faring any better as the explosions continued.

“What kind of monsters have been unleashed upon this world,” she asks herself.

— present day, Alnus community —

Date: March 26th, 2026

The Warrior Bunny awakes abruptly in a cold sweat with Nelia at her side.

“Malena, are you alright? You were tossing and turning, mumbling in your sleep. I tried waking you,” she says with great concern.

“I.. yes.. just get me some water, please,” she pleaded.

Nelia quickly rushes to get something to drink as Malena begins to slowly get out of bed, walking towards her window. Upon reaching it, lets out a sigh of relief as her nerves begin to calm. Up on the third floor of her housing, she could see the town that had sprung up here from amidst that chaos. A peaceful, busy place where races of all kinds lived in harmony and it brought a smile to her face.

“Here, the water,” Nelia offers as Malena takes it. “Is everything ok? You had me worried, do you need to see the doctors?”

“No! No, I’m fine. I was just dreaming of the past, but I’m fine now,” she reassures her companion and places her hand on her shoulders. She continues to look out the window and smiles. “I’m all better now.”

Reference:

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Support:

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Co-Creative Support: Tomrichman

Head Editor: Rockerboy Arriie

Story Artist: CallmePlez & Milkduds100

Discord: https://discord.gg/xe7nNHS

Editors:

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