Shadowbane

Stepping out of the wagon, I find myself in front of a familiar looking building.

"It looks exactly like the building back in Thule... Do all of the Guardian Guilds look like this? It does have a nice simple design, so there really is no reason to change it up."

"Yes, it was decided long ago when the order was established that our guild hall would be used as a symbol." A voice from my right said.

To my right there is a large man with a neatly-trimmed black beard. He bows down as I look at him.

"Lady Reimia, good to see you again."

Ah shit, I thought he looked familiar, but I don't remember who he is.

The man notices my hesitation and smiles. "We met briefly in the residential district of Fudo, my name is Blackwall. I was in the tent sitting next to Godwin. I'm his right-hand man, or... I was. You're looking at the person who 'succeeded' him, but not by choice."

"Oh that's right! Sorry, I do remember you now." I continued. "Did the guild force Godwin out?"

"No... Viseux and Khan Uluhm made that decision for us. We've always been autonomous, never getting involved in politics, but after Godwin supposedly defected to a foreign Eldritch... Honestly, I was really hoping you could enlighten the guild on what happened Rei. We're all having a really hard time believing that old asshole would suddenly turn traitor. Especially me, since I knew his entire family was scheduled to leave Urza."

"You knew about that? He must have trusted you quite a bit."

"I was one of the first recruits to the Guild when he formed it. Anyways, please come inside, and uh, please don't attack our new recruits."

Attack...? Why would he say that, are they Demons?

After following him inside, I immediately understood why he was worried I might attack them.

"Branded already huh? That was fast, but shouldn't you be in the Templars possession?"

Keith scrunched up his face, looking at Blackwall instead of responding to me.

"They are now property of the Guardians Guild. The Templars are currently... Unavailable."

Oh right, they're being treated as traitors right now.

"When you said we were waiting on our final member, did you mean...?" Nisha said.

"She is to join you, but not as a member of the unit. Lady Reimia will only be there to assist you as she chooses, and to... Finish, the Eldritch or Demon off."

They want me to absorb the soul basically. That way they don't need to worry about it reviving fifty to two hundred years later.

Looking at Keith's group I can't help but remember the ritual site and the fucking Satyr...

"... Honestly, I was fine with letting the Templars do whatever they wanted with you, and this does seem like a fitting punishment, but seeing your stupid faces is really making me regret not killing you when I had the chance."

"The feeling is mutual bitch." Said one of the men. A tall man with a cleanly shaven head.

I point towards Keith and Nisha. "I know your names, but not those two. Speak."

"The one who is dangerously close to being reminded of what his position is, is Lindon. The other is Albel." Blackwall said.

Lindon, who was raising both his middle fingers at me, puts them down quickly as a brief flash of horror appears on his face.

They must have already been given a slight taste of what it feels like to be purged, so it shouldn't be too difficult to work with them. If it is, then I'll take it in stride knowing that they'll be sent to purgatory for awhile afterwards. Whatever Arkaios is doing to them is far worse than anything I could ever achieve.

"I don't want to connect to her soul... I'm the one who could feel her devouring the others while I was connected to them." Nisha said.

"Hmm..." Blackwall narrows his eyes at Nisha.

"It's fine Blackwall. I really didn't want her connected to me anyways."

"... The choice is yours. With that said, I suggest you reconsider. Nisha's support abilities should not be looked down upon."

"I'm not looking down on her abilities, I remember how annoying she was. Even so, I shall abstain."

It would be useful to be able to talk to everyone at any time, or warp to Nisha when need be, but I still refuse to let her place a mark on my soul. The veil is there for a reason, it's to prevent anyone or anything from tinkering with my soul. Who knows what else she can do... I sure as hell don't want to find out.

"Then I will not bring it up again. Now please, sit down." Blackwall motions towards a chair next to Keith.

After taking my seat, Blackwall sits down to my right.

"Now then, I'd like to say I have a lot of information for you, but at this point all I have for you is to say 'good luck'."

"Surely you have more than that? You must have brought us in for a reason?" Keith asked.

"Basically, when the black sky rolled in all the villages went into lockdown, protecting themselves the best they could while everyone tried to discern what the cause was. For awhile they thought the only problem associated with the sky was the high uptake in monster attacks. That is, until the lockdown was resolved and they found something else."

Blackwall points to an area south-east of Viseux, directly east about one-hundred miles from where the Lizardmen currently are.

"Kellog's fortress, heard of it?"

"Hmm, from what I remember it was created as a bastion against the Crotia. The mountains run all the way to the east, and quite far to the west, so the only way for them to reach us was through that fortress." Keith said.

"A textbook answer, and mostly correct. All the villages are spread out on the Northern side of the fortress, connected to each other by well-maintained dirt roads. After the lockdown was released, regiments were sent out to each village to make sure everything was okay. Each village has large crystal lights on top of a tower to direct at other villages in case they need help, but it was still necessary to get a first-hand account on anything that may have happened."

"No communicators?" Nisha asked.

"None, this is why I said Keith was mostly correct. You all apparently forgot the part where Kellog fortress is technically its own nation. After the Crotia were exiled, the people of Kellog refused to leave, nor were they allowing anyone to move in. Rai'ga allowed them to secede right before war broke out, under the condition that trade continued as normal. He knew they'd never turn on us, so it mattered little to him. Also, it's only a matter of time before they rejoin Viseux regardless."

"What does this have to do with there being no communicators?" Nisha said.

"Kellog has communicators for the fortress, soldiers, outposts, and each village, but the village ones are only used in case of emergencies. The people living there really love their freedom, so having a constant line of communication between your village and the fortress was a deal breaker for them. Surprisingly the fortress was fine with it."

"Viseux would march its soldiers straight to any village that wanted to cut all surveillance. There's no way in hell that would be allowed." Albel said.

"I see... I have a pretty good grasp of the area now, please continue." Keith said.

"As to why such a guarded nation is reaching out to us, it's because of two reasons. One, they are stretched thin dealing with all the monster attacks. Two, because once the lockdown was over, they discovered four of their villages had been wiped out. Two of them were completely deserted with no signs of bodies or fighting anywhere, while the other two had been burned to the ground. Charred bodies littered the dirt everywhere."

"Burned? If crystal lights can reach other villages in the dark, how did they not see an entire village burning?" Albel asked.

"Quite the mystery, isn't it? In either case the local municipality is at a complete loss. Hence, they are reaching out to us."

"When did they release the lockdown?"

"Two weeks ago."

"So whatever is responsible could be long gone." Keith said.

"True, but is this any different from other investigations?" Blackwall said.

He's right after all. If it was an imminent threat everyone could see, then they'd handle it themselves or be calling for Viseux's troops, not a unit from the Guardians Guild.

"Any other questions?"

"I see the villages in question are paired up in different areas of the region. One burned village, next to an empty village. Was there anything at all that might tell them where the beings responsible had gone? Tracks, scents, and so on?"

"None. Like I said, quite the mystery. For now they have units camping out between villages, all within view of each other. This is unsustainable though, they already have enough trouble fighting off all the monsters. Most of them are coming from the north, and not south of the fortress. There is a large wooden palisade going around the whole region, which is honestly impressive given its size, but it's obviously not the type of barrier to hold off a constant stream of monsters."

"Looking at this map, the villages that were destroyed are all in the area surrounded by forests. Are they focusing on watching those?" Albel said.

"No, all villages are being watched, and this is because a lot of villagers helping out. For the most part the retired citizens are taking up watch in the non-forested areas. While this helps the soldiers out, it's still going to be a massive hit to morale if the old-timers are killed because those in charge couldn't protect them. People are already freaked out enough being engulfed in total darkness. The Kellog region venerates its old who had served the region in the past, so if a large amount of them die in a monster attack or whatever the hell this is... Well, let's hope you find the culprit before it comes to that."

"In that case, where are you sending us?" Keith asked.

"Your unit is heading right here, to a village near the tree-line. Personally I think you should be deeper in the woods than this since that's where all the attacks have been, but the higher-ups in Kellog want you straddling the line between both sides."

"So we can respond to attacks on either side... Eh, it's a safe approach, but I can't say I like it." Lindon said.

"Where is she going?" Albel points at me.

"Leaving that up to her. With that said, I'd like you to investigate two of the four villages."

"One charred village, and one empty village, right? That's what I was planning on doing. I had a case like this in Xelba."

"How'd that one go?"

"The shortened version is that one of the nobles in Xelba wanted a girl from a village he saw. She was already married, and one of the good things about Xelba was how it treated those currently serving and their families. Her husband was a carrier, basically grunt work, but that didn't matter. By law the noble was not allowed to lay a hand on any of them. That doesn't always stop them, as you can imagine. He burned the entire place to the ground. I found some evidence in the village that led me through multiple places before I finally found the end of the trail, the girl. She was... You don't want to know. Basically I dragged him before the high inquisitors with the girl and all the other evidence, where they promptly disposed of him."

"Humans were the culprits huh... Think it could be the same here?" Blackwall asked.

"Possible, but... It would have to be something that ran deep for any of the higher ups to destroy two villages, and disappear two others. Most importantly though, if this is an inside job, then the people responsible are not going to be pleased with the fact that we will be there investigating it."

I motion towards Keith's group. "You guys should make your own food just in case."

Keith nods. "We're used to it, so that's fine. Blackwall?"

"It'll be prepared. You're taking the Longbow, so you'll have plenty of room for supplies."

"Longbow? The hell is that?"

"Godwins naming sense at work. It's our biggest wagon, there is three in total all reserved for the top three in the guild. Godwin never used his, and since it's mine now, I'm letting you take it. Better than it just sitting there collecting dust." Blackwall said.

The door to the guild opens as a girl wearing a long decorated white kimono enters. Spotting Blackwall, she walks over to him in an annoyingly refined gait that makes me narrow my eyes.

She's obviously just an attendant, I need to stop getting mad at seeing even the slightest hint of nobility... Although, I didn't get mad at Aresa, did I? Something about her felt off from the start, that's probably why.

The girl bows down, holding out a letter with both hands.

Blackwall grabs the letter and folds it open. Not long after that he closes the letter and sighs.

"... Is this already certified? Going to happen no matter what?"

The girl nods.

Blackwall hands the letter back to the girl, then looks at me.

"You are friendly with Lady Aresa, correct? I heard you're living with her, and she even let you use one of her wagons."

"I am. I assume that note is related to her?"

"Yes... Apparently, she's going to be coming with you. They are on their way to inform her now."

"What the hell, why?"

"It doesn't say, but I have a suspicion as to why Lord Rai'ga would request her to leave again. She always said no before, however..." Blackwall looks at me.

"You're thinking she'll say yes now that I'm here. Tell me what your suspicion---" I stop, looking at the attendant who is still here for some reason.

"It's fine, she can hear it. There's only one possible reason, he wants to draw out another Tengu Lord."

"He's using Lady Aresa as bait...?" Nisha said.

"Strange, I heard she had special powers here in Viseux, and even Lord Rai'ga couldn't tell her what to do." Lindon said.

"He can't, but she'll agree anyways. Fortunately this time she'll have a proper entourage. Devon is strong, but he's... Not quite the man I'd want guarding me. He's more of a support character."

"Wait, how are they going to purge the Lord this time? All the Templars are under house arrest."

"Oh shit, that's true Blackwall. Is Aresa's entourage strong enough to beat one of the Tengu Lords? They can't possibly be expecting us to kill it..." Lindon said.

"The entourage, including me, will be the ones to kill it. We'll be on standby in a village near you lot, waiting for the Lord to appear. Don't ask us for help with your own mission unless absolutely necessary."

"Hang on, will it really appear again? My knowledge on this 'Tengu' is limited, but if Aresa leaves again so soon, won't it be way too obvious?"

"Normally you'd be right, but he has spies everywhere, I'm sure he knows about the Templars being locked down. He'll take the risk, since he knows we'll have to kill the Lord through normal means... Honestly, it's still a gamble. Far from us helping you, you may need to help us if you're able to."

Blackwall leans over and whispers. "Don't expect to absorb its soul. The Tengu retrieves his Lords souls the second they die."

Well that's disappointing... An Eldritch that powerful would be a huge boost to my mana pool.

"When do we leave"? Keith asked.

"Before the change in plans I was going to have you head out immediately. Now though, you might as well wait till the others are here, and then we'll set out together. It will take about fifteen days to get there."

I kicked back, putting my feet on the table.

This is turning into a bigger deal than I expected it to be. I can't for the life of me think of a single way I could assist against one of those Tengu Lords... I'll need to find some good abilities between now and the fight. Best case scenario I won't have to fight it at all, but that's probably wishful thinking.

An hour later the door to the guild slams open. Ishar, Alicia, Aresa, and two other women walk inside.

"You two are coming as well?"

"Keh, I'm not much of a reader. Relaxing is a privilege I will happily indulge in, but I'd much rather be fighting right now. Also, I can't let my little host here run off and die to this 'Tengu' you two were talking about before." Ishar replied.

"I also can't stay there alone while these two are out there fighting." Alicia said.

Aresa holds her board up to my face.

{Looks like we're heading out again.}

"Are you sure about this? You know you're bait, right?"

{It's okay. You'll save me again if it comes to that. Also, Rai'ga promised me something I need.}

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but it wasn't attacking us in full that time. If it wasn't pulling its punches, we wouldn't be here."

One of the new arrivals walks up to me.

"Now now, what's important is that you made it back! Allow me to thank you for assisting my friend in her time of need." The woman bows.

Hmm, noble mannerisms again. This lady must be the attendants employer. High quality clothes, medium length black hair, but most noticeable of all is the long canines and black wings behind her.

"A Nei'lah huh... Rare to see one of you."

"Yes, we are quite rare on Urza these days. A shame, but what can we do? Our god chose to leave with the Crotia after all."

"Girl, you are the last person who should be talking about how 'rare' someone is." Ishar said.

... I can't deny that.

Glancing at the other woman, I see her wearing a tight oriental black one-piece I'm unfamiliar with. I may have seen clothes like that many times in the past and just forgot about it. After all, I only went to Kitsune villages to raid them, never to visit or learn their culture.

... My god, I really am fucked up. I recalled those memories as if thinking of a time I watered a field or watched a sunset. Kidnapping, theft, murder, it was all just so... Normal.

"Can you move properly in that?" I said to the woman, hoping to distract myself.

The woman smiled and nodded.

She also has long red hair all the way down to her waist, I'm surprised it doesn't hinder her in a fight. She's here to fight the Tengu though, so I doubt she's an amateur.

Aresa points to the lady with wings first, then the Kitsune next.

{Cera, Shana.}

Blackwall claps his hands. "Alright! Now that everyone is here, let's get going. We have a long way to go and I'd like to get this trip over with."

{Riding with us, Rei?}

"Is there going to be room? Your wagon is nice but six people with that giant crocodile is a bit too much."

{No no, Cera and Shana are riding in the Longbow.}

"Oh, in that case I'll definitely ride with you three again, unless they need me on lookout?"

"No need my dear, we'll take care of that." Cera said.

Works for me, I'd rather relax the whole way if I can.

"... I'm missing my chair. Never had one that comfortable before."

"We know already Ishar. You've been whining about that chair for awhile now..." Alicia said.

"It's called a recliner, I assume she got it from my family? Or at the very least she got the blueprints from them."

{Blueprints! My mom had them made for me.}

Mom huh... I haven't seen anyone resembling a family around her.

"Oh Ishar, there's one thing I've been meaning to ask. Lord Terra'ka was going to send me back to the Elven continent if he could open a portal there, but the Elven Eldritch doesn't spread corruption apparently. Anyways my question is, can powerful Eldritch really just open portals anywhere they want if the destination has sufficient corruption present?"

"Not all Eldritch can, also, there is lots of drawbacks. Let's assume your god really did spread corruption, and Terra'ka opened a portal for you to go home. Once the portal is closed, it still technically remains. The world of Aetheria will have that warp mark on it for many years, allowing anything to recreate the portal and gain access to Terra'kas' realm. If something like a Satyr discovered that portal, it could be catastrophic. It would take a long time, but he could turn that gate into a three-way gate back home, allowing Demons free access into our realm. You have to understand what kind of risk Terra'ka was taking by offering to send you home."

Wow... I didn't think it was that big of a deal at the time, but now I see that the Lizardmen were offering me something that is surprisingly risky. Except, hang on...

"They can't be that worried, the shaman told me that they opened a portal into the dark lands on Aetheria. No one goes there besides a few idiots every year who hope to record their 'adventures', probably thinking they'll be rich if they make it back, but they never do."

"I don't know what your dark lands are like, but I can't deny that Terra'ka takes unnecessary risks. The result is a large amount of portal marks left on way too many planets and moons. Every now and then a portal will re-open, shortly followed by a large swarm of Xerath. Very rarely do Eldritch attack us, and only once have Demons hit us."

Aresa taps on my leg.

{Are you okay working with Keith?}

"... Maybe, we'll see. For now I'm more confused that Nisha didn't try to bite my throat out. I killed her lover after all."

Ishar laughed. "Well well, look at you~! More heartless than I gave you credit for."

{Hmm, maybe Arkaios put the fear of god into her?}

"It felt different from that, but I guess we'll find out soon enough."

She doesn't have the strength to attack me, so any outbursts should be verbal. I'm used to people yelling at me though, so that won't be a problem.

"Rei, a few days ago I found a book on Xelba when I was looking for something to read. I don't know how much of it was true, so I'd like to ask... Were you a cultist?" Alicia asked.

"No, only one person in my unit believed in the higher ups nonsense about some unknown creature making all of us into immortal beings. Supposedly we were all going to become immortal and live together in Gaia, creating our own utopia there. The rest of us were just going along with it because... Ugh, honestly? Life was good in Xelba. I hated the fucking guy, but there is no denying that Viktor knew how to treat people. He knew exactly what to do to inspire loyalty. You ever seen normal everyday people feed living humans to a monster while talking about mundane things, like how their relationships are going? That place... It really showed you just how far people will go if they can lead rich fulfilling lives as a result."

Alicia blanched, "You... You fed people to a monster? And not only that, they were alive?"

"Me? No, we only captured people. Somehow Viktor had a large amount of daggers on hand that would completely paralyze a person if their mana was near empty. For civilians all it took was a single stab and they were done, they'd go straight into a wagon for transport. Soldiers we'd have to fight for awhile before they were exhausted enough to stab, and then, well... Another body for the wagon. However, I did see people feed the creature a couple of times. Those were the times I... I just wished we could flee to Gaia ourselves, but that wasn't possible. Everyone but me had a cursed mark on them from the Eldritch Lords allied with Viktor. Their god had died and somehow they ended up working with him instead. Because of them, every citizens location was always known. You needed to report why you were leaving the province and when you'd be back. If they thought you were fleeing, the mark would activate, forcing you into the same stasis that the daggers put people into."

The two girls looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Ishar stared at me for awhile before talking.

"You could have fled alone though, correct? So you stayed for your comrades."

"Yes, they are why I stayed. They are why I sacrificed god knows how many people for Viktor's stupid ambitions."

"I'm sure there is way more to it than that, but you made the right call. I thought you'd be a coward because of that ability of yours... But it seems I was wrong." Ishar said, turning to look outside the window.

Alicia whipped her head toward Ishar. "It doesn't sound right at all to me though?! I can understand fighting for her friends, but what she was doing as a result is just so vile..."

"Foolish girl, this is why I call you a rookie. Training alone in your soul realm for five decades may have made you strong, but your brain has not advanced at all. While I have a limited understanding of this 'Xelba', I do remember Reimia mentioning in the last wagon ride that they were at war with everyone. All of Urza knew Xelba was the enemy, and yet they allowed their evil to reign. Likewise, there are probably good reasons why Urza was unable to ally together and grind the fucking cultists into dust. Your way of thinking is currently too straightforward and naive, but you'll get there with time."

"I'll understand why she pillaged neighboring nations for human sacrifices?! You're insane... You're both insane. Saying 'they were at war' as if it's a good excuse for what she or anyone in that nation did... You sound like the politicians from my country."

{I like you Rei, but that made me pull back a little too you know? I mean I always knew what Xelba had done, it's in my books after all, but to hear you explain it so nonchalantly as if you were explaining the weather...}

"It's... It's very hard to explain. There are things about others you won't understand unless you literally live that persons life. For instance, I can't believe nobody has asked me why I served Viktor after he sacrificed me and my family."

Ishar looks at me, "Ahh... I did pick up on that. Truthfully, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it."

Aresa nods in agreement.

"... It was soon after I lost my family. I had already spent my entire life in that hellish world alone, but finding them and having them taken from me by my own actions, that... That really fucked me up. I remember one day I was in my den like usual, and I just suddenly stood up, looked around, and said goodbye to it all. In my heart, I was done. I went looking for a Satyr, fully intending to die trying to kill it. I wanted to kill one, just one before I died and then I'd be satisfied."

The others patiently waited for me to continue as I sat there in silence, digging up memories I try to never think about.

"I found a Satyr about three days later. Unfortunately, there were four of them. My damnable curiosity got the better of me, so I followed them for almost a full day watching them. The first thing they did was pluck a Xerath broodling out of the ground and carry it off towards the nearest capital. The people were outraged at how the Satyrs' were handling their new 'master', but there was nothing they could do about it. There was also nothing they could do about the ensuing bloodbath. The Satyr killed everyone there, taking out their souls and placing them in some weird fleshy contraption. Afterwards they entered a sitting meditation pose for over a day, until finally I could see the air around the plaza they were in change completely. I recognized it, it had the same look and feel as when my family was sacrificed. I rushed over and crouched silently next to a Satyr, making no noise at all until the air around us sounded like it had exploded. Next thing I knew, I was in a temple with body parts and blood everywhere."

{You joined the transfer? I thought you had to accept it. That's what you said about the Kitsune.}

"Oh I did, but only the spell is monitoring it. I doubt the Demons even considered the idea of people stealing a place in their warps. After all, who would do that?"

Aresa silently chuckled. {Only you I bet! But sorry for interrupting, please continue.}

"Um, one of the people there could sense me. I learned later he had a ridiculously powerful scanning ability. Anyways I ran and ran through the town, until eventually I found myself in their sewage system. I uh..." I sighed. "Can we continue this another time? The next part involves my friends and I really don't want to think about this while I'm trapped in this fucking wagon. After the mission I'll tell everything, that okay? Just know that I'm not going to harm you Alicia."

"... I know you're not Rei, that wasn't what I was worried about. But yeah you're right, we can talk about this another time. I'd also like to give my wonderful senior here a piece of my mind, but I'll save that for later too."

Ishar went to reply but a knock on the window interrupted him.

Apparently the wagon had stopped while we were talking. I didn't even notice.

Aresa reaches out and opens the door.

"Good evening you three~! We're going to stay at the outpost here for the night. Also! This outpost marks the halfway point to Kellog. Only a little bit more before things get hectic, so try and enjoy this downtime." Cera said, then turn and walked off.

"Keh, relax? As if I can relax under this fucking sky." Ishar said, climbing out of the wagon.

Yesterday we had re-entered the 'blackout' zone. I was fine with it, but everyone else had quickly undergone a transformation. They went from relaxed and happy, to anxious and quickly annoyed. It doesn't take much to set them off now.

{Sleeping inside?}

"Sure, might as well. It might be a long time before I get to rest on a bed like this again."

{We'll be fine! You'll understand when you see Cera and Shana fight. Plus Ishar, Alicia, Blackwall, and Keith's group are here.}

We do have some good allies here, and Blackwall told us a few days ago that a group of Guardians were sent out ahead of us. Plus the people of Kellog are going to be helping us as well. On paper it sounds like we're in a great position... We'll find out for sure soon enough.