Ranvir and Esmund walked into the fields surrounding the complex of buildings, at the center of the campus. Rime covered grass crunched underneath their feet as they walked, their breaths plumed white in the air. The sun hadn’t yet risen over the horizon, though it would, within the hour, start to color the sky. Meaning that should be running by now.

Except today was a clinic day. That meant two things. One, that they wouldn’t have any classes throughout the day. Two, that they would end late. Clinic always ran late into the evening, well after dinner. Between the press of people and the preparations being made at the end of the day, they were never home early.

According to a recent message from administration, the commoners had been told that the trimester would be coming to an end next week, giving all the students a two week break. This would likely lead to an increased pressure at the already pressed tents. So Ranvir and Esmund were out early, partly to do some stress relief, but also to get a bit of training in.

“Have you talked with Kirs lately?” Esmund asked, yawning and stretching one arm over his head.

“Not in any particular detail, we’ve both been busy.” Keeping Sansir and Grevor in hand had been easier than Esmund. Individually. While neither were as prone to over excitement as Es, breaking through to a new stage was a really exciting time and all the access to new power could go to anyone’s head.

“She’s been spending a lot of time at the cathedral in the capital,” Es continued. “She’s been talking about ancient stories and old texts.”

“Anything interesting?” Ranvir asked, perking up.

Es gave him a skeptical look.

“Anything I would find interesting.” He corrected himself.

Es grinned, before stifling another yawn. “Best as I can gather, she’s been really surprised that mythological tales are really mythological and the people in them are greater than life.”

Ranvir pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you remember anything specific?”

Es puckered his lips, screwing his face together like he was thinking really hard. “Well… There was this one story.”

Ranvir could already tell this was why Es had brought up this subject.

“A long time ago,” He began. “Before the founding of nations and all of humanity lived in tens of thousands of tribes, spread all across the lands. A Great Evil was rising in distant realm, slowly growing their power, but the tribes were unaware of this.

“The tribes traveled among themselves, across what we now call the planes of Sankur, the deserts of Ankiria, and the rolling hills of Vargish. They lived deep in the forests of Elusria, just as they traveled on the mountain slopes of Sadukar.

“It wasn’t long, however, before the People of the Goddess began to see signs in the light, drawn in the grounds, writhed in the smoke, and written in the ice. Worried, they beseeched the Goddess for answers, for guidance. They sent to her a thousand prayers from a thousand tongues, from a thousand tethered. Each of them asking Her for answers to the decay they were seeing spreading in the world.

“Their people were falling ill, the bodies covered in boils that slowly drained them of their strength over the weeks. Their bodies twisted and dried up, hands turning into claws and legs curling into themselves. It was a horrifying time for the People of the Goddess, but their work succeeded. The Goddess answered.

“She warned them of the Great Evil. Of it’s oncoming approach. She warned them that it was coming for them. To destroy them. Rip the flesh from their bones and twist their skeletons into mockeries. She warned them of giants of flesh rolling across the hills, dozens of meters high. Monstrosities spreading rotting flesh and disease in equal measure. She warned them that the ending was coming…

“But she also told them of Anirai. The One Who Stands at the Head. A leader who could unite the tribes and lead the People of the Goddess to victory against the Great Evil. The Anirai must rise from the People, their blood would flow true, despite their visage and they would gather to them leaders, warriors, and diplomats, with whom they would conquer the tribes.

“And so, within a decade, the Anirai was born and they knew her, immediately. Her blood sang with the Serpent’s Blood. Even as a toddler, her power manifested strongly. They raised her well. Trained her with their greatest warriors. Educated her under their greatest scholars. Taught her under their greatest leaders. In time, she rose above them all.

“But time was running short. The first sightings of monstrosities were seen on the shores of the lands and the tribes had not been united. They struggled against the People of the Goddess so strongly that the People were losing members, before Anirai even joined them.

“With one hand she laid a tribe’s army low without hurting a single one. She reached across the distances bringing their leaders to her. They witnessed her power, her prowess and they knew her to be truly of the Serpent’s Blood. A chosen of the Goddess. On that day the first tribe bowed and joined the People of the Goddess.

“Anirai went to all the tribes, asking them to join her and fight the Great Evil, and many did, joining the ranks of the People. But not all. Some disbelieved in her power. These were the easiest for her to overcome. She blinded them with light. Froze them to the ground with her ice. Reached into the land and tore from them their standing with obsidian. She severed their bonds with warp, and bound them to her with space. She overwhelmed their shamans and witches with her raw might and they joined her.

“But some did not disbelieve her power, but her intent. For these, she opened her heart. She spoke to them of her purpose. Of the battles that were starting on her lands where they fought the Great Evil. She told them of the People that were lost every day, of their sacrifices to make sure the children would have a future to look forward to. She spoke to them of duty and honor. She bleed her heart for them and they opened themselves to her and joined the People of the Goddess.

“Then there were the ones who didn’t doubt her power, nor her intent. The ones that had sided with the Great Evil. Anirai had been forewarn of these tribes, yet, she had not expected them to reject her so fully. They assaulted her and her convoy, the men, women, and children of the tribe’s flesh twisting and contorting as they launched their attacks. She tore these tribes from the lands and erased any sign of existence. However, not without consequences.

“Anirai was left with but one of the People she’d brought along. A single person with whom she must return. She’d spoken to all of the tribes and had convinced or destroyed each. Yet it had cost her all but one of her people. He was Abinrai, who carried the pride of the men of the People. The sole man to bear Anirai’s interest and as they traveled together, returning to their lands, she’d grown with child.

“She saw how it cost the People of the Goddess and the tribes dearly that she could not help them properly. For while she was pregnant, her power had grown harder to wield and she herself less agile. Despite Anirai’s efforts, they were losing land. Until finally, her pregnancy was over and her little daughter was born.

“Anirai’s heart ached for her to stay with the child and her man, but she knew the land needed her. The People needed her. So it was soon that she drew off, taking with her the greatest tethered of all the tribes and the People as she brought the battle to the Great Evil.

“Anirai and her Companions tore through the Great Evil’s ever growing armies. They fought night and day, piercing first through their old lands, then taking the fights across to the lands and into the distant realm from which the Great Evil hailed. The Companions fell one by one, each of them falling to protect Anirai from a lethal blow.

“Their sacrifices weren’t in vain. As the last of the Companions fell, she laid her eyes on the parent of the brood of horrors. The source of the Great Evil was laid bare before her eyes and she witnessed its power for herself.

“It was with horror dawning in Anirai’s eyes that she realized a terrible truth. She could fight and kill the Great Evil before her, but she would not have the strength to survive its brood. But she had enough strength to return now. Without a fight.

“Her mind turned to Abinrai and her child, a babe that had yet to recognize her, waiting for her back at home. She remembered all those who’d fought and bled for her. Families torn apart and Companions lost.

“As Anirai said her goodbye to her child, a child she would never come to know, she threw her power at her enemy, ripping it and the lands apart. The Great Evil struck back, shattering the world around Anirai. Their struggle tore land and sky apart, ripping the world into two and hiding the stars during the day.

“Anirai’s fight spread over hours, into the night, and finally back into the day before the Great Evil laid slain before her feet. The seas had swallowed the realm, yet that did not stop the brood from pursuing the tired and wounded Anirai. It was as her last strength dwindled that the horde of the brood dragged her to bottom of sea and ended her life.

“Abinrai felt the death of Anirai as he held their babe within his arms. He knew that the People were saved, but his love was not. It was with a broken heart that he raised the heir of the People of the Goddess, for he knew that he could never love another like he loved Anirai.”