The armored figure descended down the long, clean stairway, until they reached a rge room with a circur table in the middle, various men and women seated around it. All of the elders were here. Monsters, the lot of you. Varnec had seen what went behind closed doors, in how they had existed for so long in such a state. The purity of your purpose kept you alive ? Hah !

  They looked even worse that when he had st saw them, their fwless skin even more pale and almost waxy, their hair discolored and irises so white they looked blind. Blindsighted indeed... They believed in their image of purity, an idol of an idea. They couldn't even begin to understand the armored figure's goal.

  To protect humanity from those monsters. They looked at their hand, repeating in their head a promise made in a field of burning ruins. They shared an enemy. The armored figure knew they wouldn't win this fight alone. So it's time to hire some extra muscle.

  "Ancient Varnec.", one of the women said. The armored figure... Varnec. Yes. It was getting harder every time to recall their identity. If that Mejanqa hadn't look so much like her sister and their memories of her, they wouldn't even have remembered their own name.

  Varnec was quite thankful that they didn't have a face anymore, because their facial expressions would betray their true feelings. "It's a pleasure to see you yet again." Not mutual. "What brings you here ?", she said, and Varnec sat down.

  "The enemy lingers.", Varnec answered. "I have faced them.", they continued. The elders muttered in shock at the decration.

  "The enemy... you mean... them ?", one of the men asked, his face lined by a well-groomed beard, his facial traits marked by his own puffed-up self-importance and lust for power and control. How many more wives have you beaten since we st met ? Because Varnec certainly wouldn't bet on him having stopped doing so.

  "Yes. They have sin my teammates and nearly me.", Varnec stated, instead, keeping his tone matter of fact. Surprise seemed to shook the council.

  "Clearly, we have not been thorough enough...We must act.", another one of the men said, staring right through Varnec's helmet. "What do you know ?", he demanded.

  "Depths of the Seaguard Greatwoods... The Warden is human. Extremely dangerous in combat. Very potent dark magic." The elders' faces showed disgust. All of them loathed dark magic, it went against their "pure, holy magic born of faith". Hmph. More nonsense.

  "Impure in body and spirit.", the first woman spoke yet again. "We shall have to move carefully. We simply do not have the resources that we did before." Because you waste it all infighting and extending your lifespan in ways so horrific that any sane person think you deserve the gallows.

  "How recent is the dungeon ?", the other woman asked, her gre sharp and vicious. Judging by the gre of some of the other elders, her fortunes had been on the rise tely. It's all a cycle. Varnec wondered how and why these elders indulged in these stupid status games still. All of the elders knew all of the other's darkest secrets... and clearly, it didn't stop them at all.

  "Very.", Varnec answered. "According to the clerk, new orders from the guildmaster ordered missions to not go too deep into the woods. One of my... teammates got the information out from him.", they continued.

  "Hmph. Boys. Always so easy to get information from.", she continued, her gre betraying her deviant tastes in younger men. Varnec shivered a little, despite them not even remembering what they used to be, and not having had anything down there for longer than some countries existed.

  "Duke Vosvelz will not help us there, then...", the bearded man stated, rubbing his chin. No surprise they'd pick him first. The man was so greedy it was easy to get him to do what you wanted as long as it would get him his crowns. "Does he have any family members ?"

  "He mentioned a daughter once.", Varnec answered. "Went missing. No further idea."

  "Then, let us bench that pn.", the first woman said, before the elders started debating between themselves on which nobles they could use and how to get commoners to join their forces. It kind of disgusted Varnec. I have taken this role to protect humanity from monsters.

  Varnec wasn't quite certain that using alcohol, money, and the promise of women to enjoy with no consequences were really the right tools... but as long as that dungeon went down, nothing else mattered.

  Besides, these aren't women. Their fist clenched so tight, that if they had human hands their palms would bleed. These are monsters.

  A puddle of shimmering white light traveled across the forest ground. It was still too early for them to show themselves, so instead they had kept most of the life shard in storage. Their puddle form could assimite nutrients much more easily and was stealthy.

  That was far more useful right now than an impractical human body with higher food requirements. They dissolved a few wild berries. An advantage of their current shape is that poisons didn't affect them at all. They didn't get to taste those, but that was fine for now. Everything in its own time.

  The shard of knowledge had granted them power, through knowledge. It was potent, less seer foresight and more an unerring guide. They could easily have become a high noble or even a monarch... but it wasn't about them and the authority they could theoretically obtain.

  It was intoxicating, this knowledge. Beyond them stretched a hundred paths. But most of them were tempting dead ends. The masked girl, at her side was the right way forwards. Their memories were hazy in that form, other than the debt they owed to her. But it didn't bother the puddle. They'd recover those memories in due time.

  Leave our group, Wryjjya, to never return. The running Umdoranz shook her head to clear her mind from the invading memories as she dressed herself. It was a fine, dry day, in the early dawn. The light danced across the trees and onto the ground.

  She was getting closer to the dungeon, and her skill with the bow the dying human left her had improved enough that she had managed to hunt a few animals. Between this and foraging, she was doing fine in provisions, for the most part.

  She got up and finished dressing herself. It is time to go. She didn't know how much time she had left, but it was enough to make it to the dungeon with weeks to spare. She took a breath of the air. It was crisp, but cked the something that dungeon air had.

  She braced her legs, and started running. The shoes made this easy. Her feet and legs barely hurt at the end of the day. If it wasn't for the risk of travelling at night, she would keep going during those. The forest turned into a blur as Wryjjya's speed increased.

  The days were getting longer. She crossed more distance each day than she did the day before. Wryjjya smiled. She didn't know when she would arrive, but it would likely be before the red leaves.

  And then... it was the question that always bothered her. Because, until she arrived, she couldn't tell what to expect. That said, it would at the very least stave the jrovtaldormor for at least a few months. And that alone was worth pursuing.

  Najabel tanned herself on her chair, pying on her phone, when an oddly familiar presence made itself known within her territory. She blinked twice, and smiled, before starting to float and turning around her house to meet her guest. "Lyna !", Najabel said, smiling. Her friend looked not just disheveled, but straight-up awful.

  Her clothes were half-ragged, she looked like she hadn't seen a comb or a shower in weeks, and her skin looked dry and cracked. "Hey. Finally someone sane in that hellhole !", Lyna answered, climbing up the stairs as the two entered Najabel's house.

  "Jeez, you look awful ! What are you doing here, anyway ?", Najabel asked as she served herself and her friend a mint julep and a coke respectively. Diet coke, of course. Friends didn't give friends drinks that made them fat and ugly. "Didn't you stay in the castle ?"

  "I got kicked out of the castle ! Can you believe that ?", Lyna answered, half-shouting and catching her breath. What ?

  "What ? How ? How did that happen ?" Najabel asked, shocked. Lyna was a nice girl ! There was no reason to kick her out.

  "Orders from the new High Priestess, if you can believe it.", Lyna answered. Well, someone's getting nothing from my Titans. She had considered maybe helping those who stayed at the castle, but that took the idea right out.

  "Wow, mean.", Najabel answered after a short while. "What the hell made her think that was a good idea ?", she continued.

  "Dunno. Something something orders from the heavens. Jerk.", Lyna answered. The heavens ? Well, clearly, they have no discernment. Sir Kvutar was a better high priest than that jerk.

  "Sounds like an excuse, so... she was just jealous, methinks.", Najabel replied, rexing a little. After all, Lyna had a lot to be jealous of ! No surprise that that High Priestess would be territorial. "And... nobody came to help you ?", she continued, instead.

  "Nope. Only person was that Katelyn, and she left me after rambling about some nonsense.", Lyna replied. Her. Najabel didn't like Katelyn.

  "Urgh.", Najabel replied. Katelyn was rude, bossy, impatient, and never got it through her thick skull that that was why nobody wanted to work with her. "Bah. She'll have to learn eventually that no one likes bossy girls.", she continued. Doesn't matter how good you are at something if you're a jerk.

  "Ain't that the truth !", Lyna replied. "I feel like I've been going insane with the people in this pce. None of them get it ! Like, is there anyone normal in this pce ?" If there's one thing that was better before, it was sure as hell that !

  "And that's why we're the best.", Najabel replied. "So. What are you going to do now ? Stick around a while ?", she asked.

  "If you don't mind, yeah.", Lyna replied, sounding almost hesitant at bothering Najabel.

  "Hmph. Who do you take me for ?" I'd almost be offended ! "I wouldn't let a girl sleep homeless, let alone my friend ! I should have a room to spare.", Najabel replied, and Lyna grinned.

  Yngrid left the temple, her teammates close behind. "This is easier than I thought so far.", the mage behind her said, the priestess simply smiling in answer. Yes... I agree, Yngrid thought. The lead the maid had given them had been unerring.

  They had gone straight south like a zombie walking down a wn and immediately struck gold. "Let us be thankful for it.", the priestess said. "Shall we keep going ?", the priestess continued, asking Yngrid.

  "If everyone's up to keep going, so am I", Yngrid answered, before freezing up. "Wait ! Something's coming this way. And it's big.", she said, haltingly, before one of the temple's clerics approached her group.

  "Those are those... Titans, miss adventurer. I think that's their name ?", she said. Her voice was soft and made Yngrid want to pat her head.

  "What do they do ?", Yngrid asked instead, keeping herself focused. Hopefully, not eating people.

  "They... bring gifts to the nobles, primarily. Once they gave the temple a rge helping of food." Yngrid rose an eyebrow. That's not what I expected, but... Well, if they weren't hostile, that was for the better.

  "Thanks for the expnation.", Yngrid said, before moving closer to the wall, beholding the... Titan properly. The thing was huge. It towered above the walls, red-burgundy skin cracked with veins of what looked to be va.

  It approached the walls, Yngrid getting almost pushed out of the way by a small assortment of guards accompanying what appeared to be the local noble. He was a well-groomed, well-dressed man, but something about him sat ill with Yngrid.

  "Ah.", the man said, the enormous creature turning its head towards him. "Have you come for more deliveries ?", he asked, craning his head to stare at the Titan.

  "Yessir.", the thing answered. Why do they sound like that ? It had a high-pitched voice, dopey straight out of a cartoon. "Lady Najabel's got something nice for you. A few dozen... ehrmm... spinning wheels ? For your household.", it said.

  Najabel is sending those things ? Yngrid's face turned dour, and she muttered under her breath. "Just what the hell are you doing here ? And what's your pn ?" Yngrid was certain someone like Najabel wouldn't do something like that out of the goodness of her heart.

  Spinning wheels... if she could get her hands on one of those, it could simplify things for the other guys left at the castle. But dealing with Najabel was... Nothing can make dealing with Najabel worth the hassle.

  "Whatcha doin' ?", Lyna asked as Najabel sat on her chair, observing something circur. She had finished settling her stuff in the guest room.

  "Having my Titans deliver some gifts.", Najabel answered. Lyna raised an eyebrow. "Right, you didn't meet them. They're massive humanoids things I created with the dungeon. They serve as my bodyguards and errand boys. Kind of dumb, but obedient and strong. Like a proper boy.", she continued.

  Lyna snorted in agreement. "So, what do you deliver ?"

  "A bunch of spinning wheels, this time." Lyna let out a dry ugh as she remembered the cretins at the castle breaking their backs. Serves 'em right. Assholes. "Generally it's rare or expensive food and drinks, though. Medicine and clothing, once or twice. It's all about sending the message that I'm the wealthiest gal around."

  "There's a reason you do those, though, no ? I don't see you taking charity cases.", Lyna asked. Najabel smiled in answer. A smile that showed all teeth, but no smile. The smile of a shark that had smelled prey.

  "It's all about the favors. I give them food, and clothes, and materials. Rare food, clothes and materials. It's a dispy, of wealth, power, superiority to them, and in return ?", Najabel said, her grin growing wider. "They owe me. They know I'm the biggest, wealthiest shark in the pool."

  "It's not just that they won't attack me. It's that as long as they py ball, I'll reward them big time. They'll get tons of goodies, so they keep enemies and meddlers away from me. I'm the queen bee of those barons, and countesses, and dukes. I'm untouchable by jackasses and weirdos, and the more the nobles py ? The better rewards they get."

  Lyna simply grinned at her friend's decration. Najabel had always been the better schemer of them both. Lyna was more of an opportunist. She grinned, and kicked back on the chair. She wouldn't mind sticking around for a while.

  Yngrid gnced behind her. The town was disappearing on the horizon. "Do you think this... Najabel met Rickard or Sir Kvutar ?", the priestess asked behind her.

  Yngrid sighed, and refocused. "I don't know. And even if she did, well... I'm not dealing with Najabel's nonsense under any circumstances. Our time and energy are worth more than that.", she answered.

  "Our lead is still valid.", the fighter said. "If he did stay at this Najabel's, he may have skipped the next town, but there's always the town after that.", he continued, reassuring Yngrid in her decision making.

  "My question is... what was Sir Kvutar looking for ?", the priestess asked, confused.

  "Apologies if I sound callous, but it doesn't matter for our mission.", Yngrid answered. "...Don't get me wrong, I can't say I'm not wondering it myself, but Rickard's whereabouts are our target, not Sir Kvutar's."

  "That's entirely fair, dy Yngrid.", the priestess answered.

  Taeqelle stretched her arms. Almost here. She had followed the strange dream she had, that had told her to go southwards. Where the woods meet the sea...

  She looked to her side for a bit. The Greatwoods were here, at long st. She would rest for a day at the temple, at the very least. She approached the hamlet. It was another quiet, sleepy pce of a town, with nothing unusual about it.

  The guards looked at her, or well, her armor. They were better drilled than most, judging by their behavior. "You may enter. Cause no trouble.", the left one said as Taeqelle entered the town.

  The streets looked the same as the other. People talked, maintained their tools or weapons. A few adventurers milled about. There was a trio that caught her eye for a split second, but they didn't notice her.

  A male mage, a spearwoman, and an axewoman. The tter seemed to be the leader. Tarqelle turned her head somewhere else. Kids were running around, fencing with sticks. A mustached man pyed with a blue-haired girl that bore a broad smile.

  He quickly caught a boy who tripped. "Thanks Mr Captain !", the boy said as the man chuffed slightly in his mustache. Taeqelle smiled in her helmet, before she left them behind as she entered the temple.

  This pce seemed, if nothing else, pretty nice. She wondered if she would have another dream tonight.

  Her Great Master's Gaze nded upon the kneeling woman. "Yes, Lord.", she said to the wordless request, the demand. "Their infidel blood shall be spilled unto your name. That, I promise. Everything will be ready very soon."

  Warmth wrapped around her, her Great Master pleased with her answer. She returned to the floor, the silver core in front of her gleaming with a pleasant light. It is time.

  Her... agent would take a few more preparations to be completely ready. The sounds of footsteps turned her head. "Mother.", the voice said. "Dinner is ready."

  "Hmph.", the woman replied. "I'll be here in a few minutes."