It's a warm autumn night. A cool breeze rushes through the trees, an omen of the cold soon to come. Still, in these parts, there are months to go before the full weight of winter settles over the forest, and many creatures are about their business. Either unaware or undisturbed by the events occurring deeper within. This far in the woods, the trees stand dozens of feet tall, many among them even hundreds of feet in height. Unlike their younger counterparts, these ancient behemoths have foliage so thick and dense, so deeply intertwined, that even the light of the multitudes of stars above cannot reach the leaf-strewn floor underneath. Only creatures equally ancient and powerful as these silent monstrosities walk beneath the eternal twilight under their branches. But even those that normally call this place home have found other places to be tonight. For tonight, beings with which even they, in their great age and power, cannot contend have taken up residence here, however briefly.

They stood in a circle. Seven beings shrouded in multicolored light so intense that their true forms cannot be seen. The brightest glow of all, though, a shining beacon so radiant it can be seen clearly for miles even through the pervasive darkness of the ancient forest, shines from in between them all. This light is short-lived, however, and it slowly fades and flickers within a few minutes. All that remains at its epicenter is a small babe. The newborn is fast asleep, oblivious to the strange events occurring around him. “Excellent. The ritual is a complete success. The child seems none the worse for wear, and it only took one attempt. I was almost certain we would have to go through several times before finding a compatible candidate. How fortunate. Securing more subjects would have become difficult even for me.” The figure standing at the child’s head pulses with light as a voice like velvet coated steel rings forth. Hard and smooth, like a practiced politician’s, this masculine figure’s voice seems to fill the air with an almost physical pressure, such is the power and force of his mere words. Yet the child doesn’t even flinch, even as the other beings in the gathering are affected by the speaker's voice. Their enshrouding lights swirl tightly around them defensively, warding off the force the words carried. Only the two figures standing directly opposite the speaker seem mostly unaffected, though their lights slightly flicker.

“Bah, of course, we succeeded. You think something as simple as this would fail with me leading the charge? Preposterous.” Upon closer observation, each individual’s light has its own specific flavor to it. Whereas the first speaker’s light is an intense pure white with hints of gold flame flickering throughout and seems to provoke thoughts of blazing sunlight and shining gold, the second speaker’s shroud is an unpleasant crimson, somewhere in-between blood and strawberry jam. It flickers in disturbing, sharply moving patterns reminiscent of firelight reflecting off of blood-soaked metal. Likewise, while nearly as powerful as the formers’, the speaker’s voice has a more gravely grizzled quality of someone more used to shouting orders than that of a politician used to swaying a crowd. The tension between the two is evident from the second’s combative and mocking tone and the first’s exasperated response. Sighing deeply, the white-clad figure responds.

“Yes Gun'' (Said as Goon) while your power was undoubtedly beneficial to our purposes, it can hardly be said that you “lead the charge” as you put it. That honor goes in equal measure to Hemel and Levity for their extensive knowledge in complex physical magics and life force manipulations respectively.” The first speaker's tone seems to indicate that this is not the first time such a conversation has been held between the two.

“Right, whatever, you overly literal bastard. My point is my power and my strength is why we succeeded yeah? So stop trying to act like you’re the one who did all the heavy lifting when all you did was get the stupid brat. Nine hells, any of us could get a freakin’ kid if we wanted to. It's not that hard.” Gun snorts.

“Or really? Have you been paying any attention during all the planning we have done? What am I saying, of course, you haven’t, why would you? It’s only the single most powerful and important piece of magic ever performed, why listen? You really think you could procure a child just like this one?” Still confident in his ability, despite his opponent’s smug and knowing tone, Gun forges on unhindered.

“Yeah of course I can! It's just a kid, right? I just snap my fingers and my Warborn would have us drowning in babies.” The crimson light shrouding the figure pulses with apparent self-satisfaction. Despite only being visible as a pillar of light, The smooth-spoken one cringes at his opposer's words. However, he quickly recovers enough to respond.

“So since your disgusting Warborn could have us, as you so crudely put it “drowning in babies,” tell me, would any of those babies have a latently heroic soul?” The white and gold shrouded figure speaks with both condescension and smug pride, apparently assured that his verbal opponent will be stumped by this. And low and behold, he is.

“Wha… What?! That little scrap of flesh was born with a latently heroic soul? Has that ever happened?” The crimson figure cries in outrage, refusing to believe the statement of his fellow. At this point, one of the other figures to the left of the one surrounded by white, this one clad in light of all shades of green from the most muted and subtle to the most vibrant and lively, begins to release peals of high-pitched feminine laughter. After a moment her laughter subsides into giggles and eventually, she speaks, clearly barely holding back more laughter.

“Oh my, you really have paid absolutely no attention to anything we’ve been saying all this time, have you Gun? No wonder Balthazar insisted you be nothing more than a glorified battery for the ritual itself! Who knows what would have happened if you had an actually important role like me.” Her tone is clearly antagonistic. Her intent is obvious to all observers save one. As she is speaking, the light surrounding Gun becomes more and more bloody in appearance as well as beginning to swirl about him faster and faster until there appears to be a localized storm of murderous fire raging like a tornado around him. Needless to say, he rises to the bait.

“Important?! All you did was keep the whelp from exploding into bloody mist! At least that would have been entertaining! I don’t need to take crap from you Levity.” The enraged figure practically screams, his irate voice causing the ground to quake and the massive branches on the trees around all the figures to be blown back as if by hurricane-force winds. The blood tornado shifts as if to move toward the individual clad in green. As he does so, the commotion finally seems to enter into the mind of the infant on the ground, his serene face screwing up in an expression of displeasure. He begins making small whimpers and wriggling about as if in a particularly intense dream.

At the same time the figure directly to the left of Gun, who seems to be the least affected by Gun’s outburst if the lack of disturbance to its own shroud is any indication despite its being the closest to the angered entity, reaches out through the energy encompassing it. This energy is not like that of the other figures. This energy is not a kaleidoscopic pattern of shifting colors and radiant light. Instead, a deep, intense black void surrounds the figure. However, despite one's initial reaction of discomfort to observing what appears to be a hole, in reality, The darkness doesn’t feel at all sinister. Unlike its bloody companion, This figure’s shroud does not swirl and shift violently and erratically. Instead, it appears tranquil and calm. Looking at it gives one the same sensation one would have right before falling asleep when the darkness of the night no longer brings discomfort but a welcome respite from the harsh sun and the toil of a hard day's work. This entity extends forth a pale, human hand, wrinkled with age, and held it up in a stopping gesture.

Immediately the bloody tornado, which had reached such speeds that some of the nearby trees, despite their readily apparent robustness, had begun to lose some of their bark and branches, ceased to move at all. The clearing returned to its previous calm, the infant stopped its irritated squirming and returned to his peaceful slumber. "S-Sorry Grim. I got a little heated, that's all. Nothing serious, honest." The previously belligerent Gun now sounded more like a child caught in the act. Even the radiant energy surrounding him, before so violent and wild, was barely moving at all. The pale hand made a dismissive gesture, clearly not caring for Gun's excuses. The darkness clad figure gestures toward Balthazar, indicating that he should proceed and then withdraws it's hand back into the cloaking abyss surrounding it. The white and golden light gathered itself at this indication, and the smooth, practiced voice of the one called Balthazar rang out once again.

"Thank you, Grim, for your timely intervention. With that bit of tomfoolery wrapped up, we can continue with the real meaning of this gathering. It is time for the bestowal of all of our Gifts. Now as was done previously I will begin by giving the chosen child the Calling of Hero-". Before he can finish speaking, Grim’s dark figure again extends its hand out of the shroud of black light and causes Balthazar opposite it to stop talking. With smooth, deliberate motions, the hand gestures toward the child, who is now aggressively sucking his thumb on the ground. “You want to do what?!”, Balthazar exclaims. His so far calm and orderly exterior is forced aside by the apparently shocking information conveyed by Grim’s small gesture. “This is not allowed! You can’t just unilaterally decide to change the entire plan on a whim! Do you even begin to understand the consequences that could occur from taking this course of action? The outcome would be beyond our sight! Absolutely anything could happen, and we would have no recourse this time. This is our last chance, and you would change the most crucial of factors at the very last moment?! I cannot allow it!” The bright golden light surrounding the irate entity ripples and churns ever more rapidly as he continues to yell and berate the black void across from him.

Suddenly the shroud of golden energy rapidly surges toward the babe in between the figures. Before it can reach the child and fulfill whatever purpose it had set out to do, the void around Grim disappears and then instantly comes back into existence right over the small child. Grim’s hand once more raised as if to stop the wave of light about to crash over the child, which is exactly what happens. The burst of golden energy doesn’t cease instantaneously, but it does slow down as rapidly as it had begun to expand moments ago. A long, drawn-out sigh emanates from the bright explosion once its progress has stopped. “Fine, fine I will not fight you on this even if it may doom us all. I hope you know what you are doing Grim.” Balthazar stated, sounding both resigned and bitter. With that, the golden wave collapsed back in until the light around Balthazar had assumed its previous, smaller, dimensions. Once Balthazar's shroud had returned to its original state, Grim’s hand immediately descended toward the child and rested gently upon its head, fingers spread to cup the newborn's skull in the palm of its hand. Immediately the small boy's stomach grumbled, and he squirmed about as if uncomfortable.

“That's what you wanted to give him? You’re so weird Grim.” The green wrapped figure of Levity spoke up. The light surrounding her twisted and coiled in a way that simultaneously reminded one of both thick green vines wrapped around a tree, and a giant constrictor suffocating its prey. She sounds mildly out of breath if that is possible for a being with no apparent physical form. She was clearly affected by the exchange between the two figures before her and appears to be trying to brush it off with a bit of humor, although no one is laughing. “I would have thought it would be something more interesting if you were going to raise such a stink about it.” She giggles nervously.

“Yes, I would have to agree with you Levity. It is quite trivial for him to have raised such a stink over something like that.” Balthazar replied scathingly, still clearly upset over the preceding events and not appreciating Levity’s attempts at… levity. The rapidly twisting and roiling energy around Levity wrapped all the tighter at Balthazar’s barbed comment. “Now, without any further interruptions, I would like to bestow my gift to the child.” Balthazar continued in a much more even tone, apparently satisfied with having chastised Levity.

“Ha, and what are you going to do now that Grim’s already called to little flesh piece? He can't be the puppet hero you worked so hard for now can he!” Gun, apparently unable to contain his mirth at seeing the one who had previously mocked him being completely shown up, begins to laugh uproariously. His crimson cloak shivers and jerks in an incredibly upsetting manner as he lets loose with a great booming belly laugh so loud the trees around the clearing are shaken to their roots.

"Well if you are quite finished with your little outburst we can continue," Balthazar says smoothly as Gun's laughter finally trails off. Although his words and tone appear to be much calmer than before, his bright golden shroud gave away his true emotions, seething, and roiling more aggressively than ever. When Gun offered no response to his comment other than a slight snicker, his light calmed considerably and became more in line with his tone.

Seeming to have mastered his emotions, Balthazar and the column of white and golden fire encircling him drifted forward toward the child after Grim and his void teleported back to his former position. “Since Grim has decided to take it upon to himself to Call our… champion I will give him the gift I find most appropriate and enviable in his race.” Balthazar said with quite a bit of pomp, clearly trying to recover from the unexpected series of events leading to his current predicament. “As such I shall bestow upon this child the ability of Perseverance so that he might withstand the many trials that he must undertake to fulfill his ordained destiny.” Finishing his statement, the purest white flame of his shroud parts from him and descends on the child, merging into the infant. Once the fire had disappeared entirely, Balthazar drifted back to his previous position.

There was silence in the clearing for a long moment as it seemed the other beings did not want to be the first to speak up following two of their number nearly coming to blows. Or more likely in Gun’s case, remaining silent purely to annoy Balthazar further.

“Oh phooey, this is all far too serious and tense for me, so I suppose I’ll go next.” A light, bubbly, feminine voice fills the silence. The words come from the pillar whose color and form are the most changeable of all her fellows. Throughout the preceding events, Her shroud has shifted through a vast series of styles, from a calm night sky dotted with stars to a riotous sequence of vibrant blues of all shades streaked with white to her current colors. Her shroud now appears like a sunrise with shifting reds, oranges, pinks, whites, and blue spread all over. As she moves toward the child, her light does not drift forward steadily like Balthazar. Instead, her shroud flits about as she bounces forward erratically as if unwilling to move in just one direction. She speaks up again as she stands over the babe, “Hmm, now what should I give to this cutie? Mm… what to do…” She hovers there for quite a bit before Balthazar speaks up.

“Hemel did you not remember to prepare a gift for the champion? I know I reminded you not too long ago.” Balthazar says, his tone exasperated but not unkind, almost as if he is speaking to a forgetful child.

“Oh I know Balthy, but it's just so hard to decide you know? You said it was so important and that I should choose carefully but there are just so many options and when I asked honey bear what I should do he just said I should do what I thought was best but I just don’t know what's best and the more I thought about it the more I was worried that what I was thinking of wouldn’t be good enough and then everyone would be disappointed and I would just feel so terrible if what I gave wasn’t enough and so I never managed to decide what I wanted.” As Hemel continues to speak, her words come out faster and faster until she is talking so rapidly she can barely be understood. Her shroud has shifted just as quickly as her speech, now appearing in all the colors of a stormcloud with greys and blacks and dark blues dominating the previously vibrant colors present just moments ago.

“It's fine; it’s fine, Hemel. Don’t worry, just pick whatever the best thing you can give. No need to overthink it, alright?” Balthazar replies hurriedly, clearly trying to calm the increasingly distraught woman.

“R-really? That would be alright?” Hemel says in a small voice, sniffling and clearly on the edge of tears.

“Yes of course. Just do your best and don't worry about the rest, it’ll be fine.” Balthazar says, relieved to have brought Hemels attention back to the matter at hand.

“Well alright, that’s easy then! I’ll just give him the Astral Codex that should be really helpful!” Hemel’s personality does another 180 and her shroud following suit, all sunshine, and blue skies. Before anyone can react to her statement, symbols flow from her. Seemingly composed of starlight, the symbols drift onto the babe and settle into his skin like a living, moving tattoo made of soft silvery light. There was a long moment of stunned silence.

“Hemel… What did you just do?” Balthazar said softly in a quiet, stunned tone.

“Oh, I just gave him the best thing I had. Isn’t that what you wanted? Did I not do it right?” Hemel said, clearly feeling like she was being reprimanded. Balthazar quickly cut her off before her mood could take another downward spiral.

“No, No that's not what I meant. I just… is it alright for you to give him the Astral Codex? Can you do that safely?” His concern evident.

“Of course it's fine silly, I just did it after all didn't I?” Hemel giggled. “You worry too much, Balthy, it's fine.”

“Sigh... Just one thing after another today. It was supposed to be simple, like last time. Why is it going so wrong?” Balthazar mutters under his breath so the others cannot hear him, clearly at wits end from the long series of unforeseen events that this day has turned into. “Alright, well if you’re fine then I suppose we should continue then.”

“Ah, I suppose I will go next then if no one else has any issues.” Levity’s high-pitched voice called out as Hemel bounced back over to where she had been previously, clearly feeling like the clearing’s mood had shifted enough to where it was safe for her to speak up.

“Yes, continue if you would,” Balthazar said, coming out of his momentary funk.

“Absolutely, now as this new, er, champion will have to overcome many trials beyond the means of his peers I would like to grant him the power to go beyond the limitations of normal flesh. To fulfill this, I shall grant him the highest form of Overload.” Levity spoke in a stilted and obviously rehearsed speech.

“Well, at least someone is acting according to plan. Why am I not surprised that it's Levity?” Balthazar muttered to himself as Levity approached the child following her word. Green vine-like tendrils of energy encompassed him and sunk into his flesh, disappearing into the baby's body. “Very good, Levity. With that, we can continue forward. Sakanna, if you would be next?" Trying to prevent further stalling from the remainder of the group.

"Hmm, I don't see why not. I’ll take but a moment.” The one who spoke was surrounded by a deep, rich navy blue vortex of energy. It swirled swiftly, but also consistently and calmly like a perfectly controlled hurricane. Her voice, for the one speaking, was obviously female, had a deeper timbre than the other women of the group. She spoke with the same controlled power shown in her shroud, her words smooth and paced, as consistent and measured as the tide. She approached the child in the same manner, shroud flowing to the child in a wave and stopping precisely before the baby, every motion exact and controlled. “Since he will eventually pass beyond our means if all goes well, I wish to give him a sliver of my mastery over my own domain so that he may not be hindered on his journey by the might of the waves.” As she said this, several strands diffused from her miniature hurricane. These strands looked remarkably similar to small water flows from a perfectly clear stream; however, when they entered the boy's mouth, he didn’t seem to notice.

“Sakanna, thank you, what an excellent gift. It is very noble of you to give a portion of your domain to assist our champion.” From his tone, it would appear Balthazar’s mood has improved once more as another of the group follows his lead, and another gift is bestowed without issue. Perhaps I was just overly pessimistic. Everyone is still acting mostly within reason. But Balthazar's more positive thoughts are proven wrong as he calls forth the next of his compatriots. “Aarde, if you would be so kind as to be next?” There is a long awkward pause as his words receive no response.

“Honey bear, Balthy wants you to give your gift to the little champion now,” Hemel says, tendrils of her sunny shroud wisping over toward the figure beside her. The last of the seven is easily missed. The energy surrounding the figure is a dull, uniform brown throughout. Unlike all the others this shroud does not shift or move at all. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a mound of dirt if not for the subtle magical glow around it. A glow so subtle it is easy to miss especially with the riot of various colors coming from all the others in the clearing, not the least of which comes from Hemel herself. In response to her words though, the pile of glowing dirt does shift slightly.

“Oh, what's that, dear? I was working on something terribly interesting.” The responder's voice is deep, much deeper than any of the others present by a fair margin. The earth shakes subtly with every word he speaks and his tone is like two massive boulders grinding together. Despite this, his voice fails to come across as unpleasant to listen to.

"Balthy wants you to give your gift for the hero." Balthazar, even as a mass of light and energy, visibly flinches when Hemel calls the child a hero.

“Hmm… Right! Umm, hmm. Now, what was it that I had? I know I made something for this now where did I put it? Hmm…” As Aarde speaks, subtle rustling noises emanate from his shroud like someone shuffling through a pile of rocks and dirt.

“Darling, did you leave it at home again?” Hemel asks gently. She is now hovering right next to Aarde as he continues to mutter to himself and search for something.

“No, Mel dear I’m positive I brought it this time. Oh, perhaps this then?” His words trail off into muttering. As he continues to mutter various objects begin to appear around him. “It’s not this.” A small bowl engraved with various runes appears. “No, no it wasn’t that big.” A massive broadsword, nearly seven feet long, appears next to the bowl where it plunges through the earth with ease as it glows with magical power. “Hmm.” A statue of a rabbit that moos. “How did this even get in here?” A long thin metal rod capped with the likeness of a goat's head that constantly breathes bubbles. “Oh, that's good. But he’s a baby so probably not.” A full set of plate armor wreathed in lightning and fire on a mannequin. It looks as if it would fit on someone roughly three feet tall. “Oh, to the mantle with it. This’ll have to do. I wasn’t done with it but I would hate to disappoint.”

As if fired from a cannon, a small crudely shaped dagger that looks to be made from obsidian fires out of Aarde’s shroud at incredible speed. Before anyone can react, it impacts the small infant directly in the chest. And then submerges into his body without a trace, leaving the child unharmed. "Excellent, it seems to be merging with the child properly, how unexpected. I was sure it would be too rough for a baby to absorb it instantly, but suppose that's what happens with a latently heroic soul. Alright, there you go, Balthazar. Terribly sorry I hadn't heard you earlier. I was so absorbed in a very fascinating artifact."

"That… that's fine Aarde. Thank you for the gift. I'm sure the champion (he emphasizes the word) will put it to good use."

"Hmph. I would hope so. I've been working on that beauty since before the fall. Never managed to get it quite right, though. Oh well, it'll be put to use now. That's all that can really be asked of a good tool."

“You made that before the fall?! Why haven’t you used it before now?” Balthazar says incredulously.

“It was never finished! Unfinished tools are dangerous, you of all people should know that.” Aarde replies.

“Sigh, you’re right Aarde, I apologize. Thank you again for giving up something you have obviously placed a great amount of work into.” Balthazar says with a remorseful tone.

“Eh, it's fine. Use it or lose it at the point I’d say.” Aarde says distractedly, obviously barely really paying attention to the whole conversation.

“With that said, Gun, could you go so we can wrap this up?” Balthazar says stiffly, not very happy with having to ask anything of the other after their recent argument.

“Hmm, well about that…” Gun says, enjoying drawing out the experience. The bloody energy around him seething with his mirth.

“What? What is it this time? Are you going to once more inform all of us that you’re so much better, and your gift is just so much more amazing than anything we could have possibly brought?” Balthazar says scathingly as his shroud of light begins to grow brighter, the flames raging more intensely.

“I mean… yeah, pretty much.” Gun says, his shroud becoming incredibly subdued at having his plan exposed.

“Well, go ahead then. Wow us.” A long moment passes before Gun responds, his shroud becoming more and more violent in the silence.

“You know what? No. The stupid brat can come earn it. I’ll give it to him when he can come and challenge my best. If he wins I’ll give it to him as well as some of my domain. If he’s as good as you want him to be, he shouldn’t need it to get that far.” With that, he disappeared with a boom and crack, the crimson energy seemingly collapsing in on itself and then shooting off into the night sky.

“Damn it, Gun, you jackass! Arrrgh!” Balthazar shouts after him, the trees quaking at his rage. The ones nearest to him begin to burn, so intense is the heat and light thrown off by his burning golden inferno. “I’ll make him pay for disregarding this so flippantly and then fleeing like a coward, I swear it.” He says, mastering his emotions with difficulty, barely preventing himself from burning the forest down wholesale. Curiously, the baby is unperturbed even though Balthazar's outburst was much more violent than Gun’s earlier one that had nearly woken him, and the fact that he was barely twenty feet from a fire intense enough to burn ancient trees dozens of paces away.

Speaking into the silence following his outburst, Balthazar says in an almost ritualistic tone, “Our ritual has concluded. A new he-... champion has been brought into the world and given gifts of his station to fulfill the purpose for which we created him. Hemel, cast forth a prophecy of this new champion's future deeds so that we may know of his victories and trials to come.”

“As you command Balthazar,” Hemel responds in a similar tone. There is a long, tense pause as everyone waits for the prophecy to be proclaimed. “Ummm… I kinda used the Astral Codex to do the prophecies? I’m so sorry, Balthy.” Her shroud drifts back toward rain clouds and storms. Balthazar takes a deep breath and lets it out.

“Hemel, that's fine.” Balthazar says in an incredibly exhausted tone, “With everything else that has gone outside of the preordained plan, I doubt even the Astral Codex could make an accurate prediction of the child's future. It’s far too irregular at this point. Let’s just call it here. I suppose we’ll all just meet again as scheduled, yes?” Noises of affirmation come from Hemel, Sakanna, and Levity. Presuming that Aarde wasn’t listening and Grim simply wasn’t speaking like normal(he’d never missed a meeting before, so Balthazar wasn’t concerned), Balthazar began to bid the others farewell. “I shall see you all in a years time the-”

“Wait a moment Balthazar.”, Sakanna spoke up, “It just occurred to me, we cannot leave a small child in a forest such as this unattended. He will die of starvation or be eaten by the Mana Beasts.”

“Ah. Yes. I suppose so.” Balthazar had completely forgotten such concerns.

“I-If I may, Balthazar?” Levity, of all people, spoke up.

“Yes Levity, what else did I miss?” Balthazar said in exasperation. Levity’s shroud twisted nervously at his tone.

“W-Well, actually I may have a way to care for the babe.” She said timidly.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Balthazar said in a much milder tone. Encouraged by his apparent interest in a solution, Levity continued with much more confidence.

“The queen of this forest is actually just about to have a litter. She could care for the child. It would not overburden her at all and may help the champion grow stronger.”

“Excellent, actually. Well done Levity, call the queen forth immediately.” Balthazar sounded rather surprised at such a well thought out solution just presenting itself to him after such a long string of massive departures from his original plan. The silence was far less tense as they waited for the queen of the forest to join them. Suddenly, a massive wolf appears almost directly in front of Levity and bows low before her. It’s a huge creature, easily standing at five and a half feet at the shoulder with brilliant icy blue eyes. Its fur is short and seems to be changing color subtly from various shades of white to black. The one feature making its appearance significantly different from a wolf, besides the color-changing fur and overall size, are two sets of horns on its head. One set curls along its jaws like rams horns and another set spikes out jaggedly from its forehead. From her rather large stomach, it is obvious the she-wolf is very pregnant.

“I have come at your request, my lady. What would you have of me?” A warm, mellow voice comes from the expecting mother.

“Hmm, a dire wolf variant, just barely into the seventh tier. Impressive magical ability. I approve Levity. I’ll have you handle the details with your subject.” Balthazar interjects, ignoring the she-wolf’s question entirely. After he finishes speaking, he disappears in a blinding flash of light.

“Well if Balthazar is leaving and Levity is handling the child, I’ll head out as well,” Sakanna says and vanishes to the sound of crashing waves. Hemel and Aarde quickly follow suit, after Hemel gets Aarde to understand that they can leave. Levity looks around and realizing that she is the only one left, Grim having disappeared at some point, turns to the forest queen in front of her.

“Lorna, I have an important task for you.” Levity’s tone is much warmer and almost motherly when speaking to the pregnant wolf.

“Of course. Anything within my power I will gladly do for you, my lady. I could hardly ever repay you for all the kindness you have shown me since I was a pup. You even bless my unborn pups. I cannot express the depths of my gratitude.” Lorna replies sincerely.

“Thank you for your kind words but I think you underestimate yourself. It is through your own will to survive and thrive that you are what you are today. I merely stopped unwanted outsiders from interfering in matters of the wild. Now, I need you to take the child over there. Raise him as your own and teach him as best you can. Do this for me?” Tendrils of Levity’s shroud reach out and stroke the she-wolf's fur gently.

“Of course my lady. He shall be like another of my own pups. I will raise him into a human who respects the wilds.” Lorna says, leaning into the scratching tendrils.

“Please do Queen of this forest. Show him a good path.” With that, Levity also disappears to the sound of rustling leaves. Lorna then turns toward the child and her eyes glow brightly. A gentle wind lifts and cradles the child as Lorna disappears from view. Almost immediately, the floating child does as well.

Later that night in Lorna’s den, the newborn snuggles up against his surrogate mother. A small golden spark flares into existence right above his head. “You think you can ruin everything, Grim? I’ll stop you. My plan will work, even if I have to enact desperate measures.” Balthazar's voice is barely a whisper. A small golden orb flies from the spark and enters the child as the tiny flame disappears. Inside the child's sleeping mind, another presence comes to awareness.

“The fuck?”