Ugh…what…happened….

Coming to, Mariana slowly sat up, she was nestled up in her bed, rubbing her eyes as she looked around the room she was in, not recognizing it.

Where am I?

The room was much smaller than hers but was made of simple wooden planks much like the other buildings of the village. A small chair sat beside the bed along with a bedside table, besides that the room was bare. Looking down over herself she checked for any wounds only to find none.

At least he didn’t hurt me while I was out…Not that I could blame him if he did, I did attack him.

Pausing, she mulled over her thoughts.

Wait….. why am I making excuses for him?!

Shaking her head, she left the bed, leaving the blankets behind, feeling goosebumps forming over her exposed skin as she glanced down at her exposed body.

I’m still naked…

Realizing that when she had rushed to fight the man she had been getting into bed, it made sense that she was completely nude still. If she had taken a bit more time she could have at least placed her large leather vest on after transforming, but in her rush she had completely forgotten. Instead opting to run out in her spirit form while completely exposing herself to everyone. Recalling that night her cheeks flushed with heat.

What an embarrassment you are…must have completely blown my first impression for him…

Shaking her head again she pushed the thought aside. Why should she care what he thought?

I need to figure out what happened.

Transforming just enough to cover her body in a coating of fur she opened the door of the room, wondering momentarily why no one had even bothered to lock it.

Is he that confident in himself that I’m not a threat? Does he think his corruption has taken me fully?

Although she could smell the scent of it lingering on her, she did not feel like it was an amount to be worried about.

It hardly even smells bad like it did before, it’s certainly not as much.

Looking at the hallway she began to recognize the building, although she had visited once or twice before she had never been so rude as to stick her head into any of their bedrooms.

Shoji’s place...

Making her way down the hallway she reached the front entrance, the light from outside peaked in through the cracks helping illuminate the otherwise dark home.

So it’s at least mid-day out…

Grabbing the door handle she prepared herself, drawing her spirits together in case she would need to merge them. Flinging the door open she winced as the bright light blinded her, covering her eyes she looked out into the village completely dumbfounded at the sight that met her.

Carts and piles of logs lined the roads as villagers hustled back and forth working, larger carts had villagers in full spirit form pulling them to their destinations. Groups of women laughed and talked as they worked, showing little worry for the actions that had happened the night before.

How did they get so much done?....Has it been only a day?

“You're awake!” A cheerful voice cut into her thoughts, causing her to jump ever so slightly.

Turning to face the source of it her heart jumped at the familiar sight.

“Mika!” stepping forward she firmly embraced her companion, silently thanking that she was safe. “What happened?”

Mika returned her hug, squeezing her tightly as she nuzzled her face into her neck. “What do you mean?”

“The village…what’s everyone doing?....And how long have I been out?”

Releasing her and taking a step back Mika smiled warmly. “You’ve been out almost 2 days, and the village is poorly defended, so we're building a wall and some new buildings, though I don’t know what all of them are for.” She spoke cheerfully, as if nothing was out of the ordinary with the tasks being carried out.

“Poorly defended from what?” Mariana tried to understand the need for more defense around the village, pulling up nothing.

We don’t have bandits in this area, and no normal bandit group would be a threat to us…

“I’m not sure.” Mika shrugged casually as she answered, “All I know is what we were told.”

Told by?

Mariana paused as she took in Mika’s words, someone had ordered this done and she needed to know who and why.

“Mika, who ordered this done?” A sense of dread built in her as she anxiously waited for a reply.

“Oh, Geneeva did.” Her matter of fact reply drove a spike into Marianas chest.

They’re listening to him!?

“Why would you do what he says!?!” as she spoke, she reached out grabbing her shoulders firmly.

Mika’s eyes grew wide at the sudden outburst before she regained herself, the friendly smile vanishing from her face, a fierce frown taking its place.

Her voice turned cold as she addressed Mariana, “Why wouldn’t we?” Making no attempt to hide the malice now present in her voice as she locked eyes with her, almost threatening her with her posture.

“Well….errr” Mariana was dumbfounded at the reaction. “Am I not the chief? Shouldn’t I be part of decision making?” Trying to recover her composure she changed her line of questioning, looking to avoid a confrontation.

Mika paused before softening her features, the pleasant smile returning to her face as she spoke casually again. “We voted him as our new chief, so no need! You deserve a break from it anyway!”

WHAT?!

“You just replaced me?! But…even if you had a vote…What did the elders say!?” She knew that only the elder council could force a chief vote prematurely. They consisted of noteworthy individuals who had passed the age of 110 years. Many still were physically active hunters of the village thanks to the vitality provided from their spirit animals, and most importantly none of them had been present at the dinner that night. Opting instead to start a search party for the missing hunters.

If the elders don't side with him I can use that as leverage. A dozen spirit animal holders, even if aged, are still a formidable force.

Mika tilted her head slightly, still sporting her pleasant smile. “They didn't object!”

“Really? Did they say why?!” Mariana’s heart dropped as she heard the news.

Has his corruption spread even to them?

“Never got a chance to really.” Mika again answered matter of fact. Her response drew a dreadful curiosity from Mariana.

“What do you mean they never got a chance too?” Pressing her companion she asked the question knowing she would not enjoy the answer. “Why did they not get a chance too?”

Mika paused momentarily and scratched her chin, contemplating how best to answer. Eventually shrugging her shoulders as she casually replied.

“Well he killed half of them in a brawl, then brought the rest back for some sort of death shaman ritual thingy. I don’t know what it was.” Nodding as she spoke she seemed to gloss over the weight of her words. “C’mon! I’ll take you to him, we can take the long way and I’ll show you everything we're working on!” Her cheerful voice fell flat as she looked towards Mariana. “Is something wrong?”

“How….how…could he?” She couldn’t come to terms with what she had been told.

They’re dead? And….her complete lack of emotions towards them…..

“Where is he?” She felt her heart harden as she choked out the words, gritting her teeth until they began to ache. “Take me to him NOW!” As she barked out the order she could see Mika visibly flinch away from her.

“Okay…. I’ll take you to see him.” She cowered back slightly as she began briskly walking. “He was helping with a foundation for a gate over here earlier.” Motioning towards the far end of the village as she walked along.

I’ll rip him apart for sure this time…and burn the remains.

Though she wasn’t completely sure of what happened during their fight, she distinctly remembered tearing into his throat. Only to have him recover and ambush her after the fact.

Some sort of healing magic perhaps?

Whatever the case may be, she intended on making sure her advisory was completely void of life before she turned her back on him.

Looking ahead she could make out a large stack of logs and stones piled just outside the village, villagers busily stacked and moved the stones as they brought them towards a large pit.

A guard house?

She had seen such structures before on her travels, when town’s were walled off they would frequently have a guarded gate for access, providing a guard house at its location was the logical step in securing the opening.

Who does he plan on protecting us from? No one visits this forest in numbers.

Dismissing her idle thoughts, she quickened her pace, leaving Mika behind as she approached the pit. Villagers worked on packing the soil down as they placed the stone for the foundation, as they worked a lone figure stood out amongst them, with his gray skin and tall build he towered over the Villagers, his curved horns adding to his menacing appearance.

Seeing him in person sent a flood of emotions rushing through her, anger, admiration, hatred and a deep longing.

What…what am I doing…

Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts.

Why am I hesitating here….I should rip him apart…

Looking down towards the ground she breathed deeply, finding that breaking eye contact helped calm her nerves.

“About time you woke up.” His deep voice startled her as she jumped back, in the moment she had looked away he had left the pit and covered the ground between them, now standing mere feet in front of her.

No longer wearing the ragged animal hide he had on previously, instead sporting a white tunic and rawhide pants that had been tailored for his size. She could make out the dirt covering his hands from working along with the villagers, though she felt slightly confused at the new markings along his forearms. In contrast to his gray skin an orange line weaved around his exposed arms giving off an artistic design.

Are those…runes?

She eyed the design as it split and circled about his arms, at a distance she didn’t notice it at all, although up close she could see its color clearly.

“Are you going to say anything or just stare?” His voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her attention away from his appearance. Momentarily staring into his face, she felt herself becoming lost in thought again, with a heave she forced her thoughts back, bringing her hand up to clench at the air in front of him.

“What did you do with them!?” Her voice cracked slightly as she felt a surge of anger rise in her, the feeling quickly subsided as she tried to direct it towards him.

What the hells wrong with me!?

“Who?” His smile vanished momentarily as confusion swept across his face, the moment was fleeting as realization appeared in his eyes. The smile crept back into his features as he nodded towards her.

“They’re right in front of you.” His smirk turned dangerous as His canines gleaned in the morning light.

Stepping back, she felt a sickening twist in her stomach.

“You….You ate them!” She brought her hand forward, pointing towards him accusingly.

His smile again vanished into a moment of pure dumbstruck before he burst out in laughter.

“What kind of monster do you think I am!” She felt a surge of blood rushing to her face as he held his stomach while howling, the other villagers present had stopped their activity and now had their eyes glued to the two of them.

“Why would I eat them??” His eyes had watered up from laughter as he looked her over.

“I…I don’t know..” She felt an immense embarrassment building under his gaze.

Why…why should I even care what he thinks?

“Well no, I did not eat them.” He shook his head slightly as he spoke.

“So they’re still alive? Can I see them?” Setting aside her embarrassment she felt a wave of relief wash over her, if the elders were okay she still had a chance to correct things.

“Well no, the morning after our little show I killed most of them.” His tone had gone from cheerful to dead serious over the sentence, causing her heart to freeze as she realized he was no longer joking around.

“And the survivors are now eternally trapped within me.” As he spoke he motioned to the runic markings now covering his forearms. “Did you know in my last life a hundred people wouldn’t provide enough spiritual energy to get this kind of effect? But just several of your animal spirits could. Incredible.”

“How…how could you!” She was mortified at his words, balling her hand into a fist she lightly struck his chest, feeling an overwhelming shame that she could not bring herself to put any power behind the strike.

“It needed to be done.” She felt his arms drape a cloak over her shoulders. She wanted to pull away from his touch but found herself seeking his comfort instead.

“Where did you get the cloak?...Thank you…” She absentmindedly spoke as she pressed her head down to her chest.

‘It’s mine.” The familiar voice of Shoji interjected her thoughts as she snapped back to reality, she felt a rush of disappointment flow over her as she realized that Shoji had been the one comforting her instead. Though when she had approached she did not know.

Why did I think it was him…Why did I wish it was him?

Bringing her eyes up she looked towards him, even though he had not moved to comfort her she still felt herself wanting to thank him. For what though, she did not know.

Turning her attention back to Shoji she searched for what to say “Shoji…you…betrayed us.”

“Was I wrong too?” Her matter of fact reply was given with a stern face. “Would you have done differently?”

Mariana was taken back from the comment, struggling to fully grasp what was said.

Why would she think I would do something like this!? I wouldn’t….right?

“Well…of course not!” She finally managed to push forth her reply, “At least…I don’t think I would.”

She could catch the momentary flare of anger flash in Shoji's eyes as she moved towards her, her posture threatening as she glared down on her. Within seconds fur began to cover her body as she started to merge with her bear spirit.

“You wouldn’t help such an amazing man!?”

Mariana stepped back at the words pulling towards her own spirit to merge.

“Cut your shit out, both of you.” He snapped at the two off them, causing both girls to flinch back at his words. “There is much work to be done, or are you both content to simply stand around and argue while I do it myself?”

Shoji quickly bowed her head down. “I’m sorry! I’ll continue right away…” without another word she rushed back towards the stone pile, only pausing briefly as she threw a slight scowl at Mariana.

Feeling the urge to not be shown up on work ethic Mariana looked over the work area before giving her head a shake.

Why would I start listening to him?

“So…what exactly are you doing?” Wanting to gather more information she decided being direct with him would be the best course of action, after all, if he had truly wished injury on her person he would have had ample time to do so while she was unconscious.

“Fortifying this dump.” He paused as he turned towards the construction. “From what I’ve gathered a considerable amount of druids live nearby, I suspect that despite being preoccupied with the infected woods they won’t overlook my actions for long. Combine that with Felhold just a few days journey from here and it becomes apparent that this village needs to be fortified if it’s to serve as my base of operations.”

“Base of operations for what?!” Mariana couldn’t help but blurt out her question, disregarding any attempt to be subtle in gathering information

Who is this guy and what does he want??

“Come, walk with me.” Before she could even reply to his request he began briskly walking towards the edge of the village, not wanting to be left behind she found herself chasing after him, struggling to keep pace with his long strides.

“Tell me, do you know the surrounding country well?” His question was asked with little interest, suggesting he knew her answer already.

“I’ve…Never left these woods before” She mumbled her answer as she mulled over where he was going with the conversation. “But we have a small library with information that we use for teaching.”

“I’m well aware.” He nodded as he spoke, having stopped after passing through the fence now under construction. Kneeling he lightly picked up a stick on the ground and began to draw in the dirt.

“Imagine this circle is the woods here.” He scratched out the image in the dirt as he spoke, “Your village would be no more than a quarter into it at most. Outside the woods and to the north is the stronghold Felhold, until now they have completely ignored your village. No taxation, no merchants heading this way officially. Nothing. The only reason such a level of independence has been maintained is that they simply don’t want you to move into the city.”

“But…why would that be?” She had never pondered why the local lady had never imposed any kind of tax on their small village, it had simply been how things always were.

“That’s because just to the south of you is a great unknown. The maps you have in your library show that after these woods lies a short mountain range, and directly south of that is a large portion of foreign land. I assume this country has a name, but I was unable to find it. Simply put, Felhold uses your village as an early warning if the druids, or the nation beyond the mountains ever decided to attack. Imposing any kind of difficulty on this village would increase the likelihood of you all abandoning the area.”

“How do you know all this? Doubting his words slightly she pressed him for the source of his speculation, she doubted that she had remained unconscious long enough for him to rally the villagers onto a large scale construction project and read over all of their archived books, little as they may be.

“Oh, I’m directly taking it from the memories of the souls” he pointed absentmindedly at his arms.

“You might not have left these woods, but they did.” His eyes seemed to momentarily glean as he spoke.

She stared dumbfounded at him as he spoke, first marveling at how he could do such a thing, then becoming slightly disgusted with herself that her first thought was to internally praise his ability.

This…This should be revolting, why don’t I feel like it is?!

“Where was I going with this...” He paused to regain his thoughts before continuing.

“Ah yes, the current arrangement is going to end with Felhold. Soon they will stop ignoring this village and will most likely send a force here.” He nodded as he spoke, as if the impending doom of a stronghold sending a subjugation force to a remote village was nothing out of the ordinary.

“But why?! What have we done to deserve that? Unless…what did you do!?” She felt a slight anger rising in her over his words, followed by a slight joy that she was still capable of being angry towards this man.

“Nothing actually. They don’t even know of me, at least not yet.” His reply was calm and casual despite the nature of their conversation.

“You know it’s very frustrating, I come here and I can’t manipulate this mana to cast anything. Even just moving it around proves difficult enough.” His voice took on a more serious tone as he spoke, momentarily catching her off guard.

What is he talking about?

“But as you can see by these runes I am not without options! Mana is but the physical manifestation of the souls will. If I cannot get it to do as I please I will simply go to its source. Though what I can do directly with the soul is somewhat limited in comparison, and there lies the problem.”

“What problem?” Her head swam with questions as he spoke, but not understanding the workings of mana beyond simple manipulation she did not know where to start.

“It's crude, and the cost is high. Take these runes for example” He motioned towards his arms as he spoke. “Despite the high cost to attain them they can only perform simple tasks, strengthening, and increasing durability, I can’t draw on them directly to cast anything, though I suspect that will eventually change if I figure out how to better work this world’s Mana.”

This world?

She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant by that last comment only to have him motion her to be silent as he continued speaking.

“So the big problem now is that to complete my task I need to know more about this place, and the best way to do that is divination. A simple spell that will allow me to reach out and find what I seek, but the only divination I can perform currently will be crude and any Magus worth anything would have to be in a damn coma to not sense it.” He sighed as he spoke. “I don’t know what kind of defenses your people have, but from my own personal experience most soul divination ends up being pretty fatal to the caster if he looks anywhere he shouldn’t be looking, though I suppose in this case it won’t be my soul used in the spell.”

Mariana felt confused at everything he had just explained to her.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” She was not sure if she should feel pleased with herself that he felt like he could confide in her, or worry, if he by chance felt like letting her know his plans only because she would be disposed of.

“Does it matter?” He casually approached her as he spoke. “It's not like you aren’t going to help me with everything you have.”

She took a step back as he approached her “Why should I? You’ve only wronged me since you came here!” Despite her efforts the words came out flat, void of conviction.

With a final step he reached out towards her, pulling her into an embrace, she tried to pull herself back but found the warmth of his body alluring. In just a fleeting moment she dismissed any attempt at escaping his grasp and pressed into him, no longer content to simply let him hug her, she wrapped her arms around his muscular shoulders and pressed herself into his chest, enjoying the feel of his warmth against her skin, inhaling deeply she took in his scnet, feeling ecstatic.

“Come now” His voice was softer than usual. “There is still much work to be done.”

Feeling herself nod slightly at his words she reluctantly pulled herself away from his embrace before walking alongside him back to the construction site. She knew right then that no matter what this man's goals were, she would make them her own.