Many of these phenomena unfolded just beyond the immediate vicinity of the shimmering gateway, their quiet chaos unnoticed, like hidden tempests unfolding below the horizon. Had Eliud been aware, no doubt he would have found them captivating—though the unfolding magic of the portal was far too engrossing for him to notice such subtleties.
The air around the broken portal crackled, bending and inverting in a myriad of ways. Faint echoes of ancient, forgotten powers stirred at the edges of reality; humming like distant whispers, almost imperceptible, as though something was waking—or perhaps, trying to stay asleep.
Yet all this went unnoticed by those preoccupied with the immediate danger of the breach.
By far the most pressing issue for the small group was the immediate and violent reaction of the surrounding flora and fauna to their sudden presence in this realm. It was as if the very land itself resented their intrusion, and nature’s fury was quick to follow.
Kirstin, keenly aware of the peril, activated her
But with her Skill active, the strike passed through her with no effect, as though she were nothing more than a shadow. The vine’s momentum carried it through the empty space, and in its wake, it collided with a satisfying, almost comical thump against the back of Eliud’s head.
Kirstin couldn’t help but smirk as she watched him stagger, momentarily dazed by the unexpected blow. Perhaps not the outcome she had planned, but certainly one she could appreciate.
The Duskstrider was thrown forward, caught off guard by the sudden assault of a pack of snarling, dire wolves. For a moment, he struggled, tangled in his own haste to regain control, but it took him mere seconds to right himself. With the calm of a predator who had faced far worse, Eliud activated several Skills in quick succession, flames leaping from his hands to incinerate the tree from which the vine had emerged, along with several others that looked equally eager to tear into them.
No one could miss the shriek that pierced the air—an animalistic, tortured sound—as the tree burned, its branches writhing in agony before turning to ash.
Eliud clapped his hands together, the resulting wave of pressure crushing the wolf pack into submission. As their remains disintegrated under the force, he turned his piercing gaze towards his visible companions. "I assume our little Harbinger is still with us? She just chose to phase out in the middle of a battle?"
Savage, having dealt with a mutated bear that had momentarily snatched her up, now casually swallowed it whole, her jaw snapping back together with a sickening crunch as she reassembled herself. “I came through with her," she said, her voice disturbingly calm. "But she vanished the moment the foliage decided to throw a tantrum.”
"Perfect," Eliud said, the sarcasm heavy in his voice, but his focus quickly snapped back to the chaos around them.
Another bear—this one easily twice the size of the first—crashed through the trees, its massive form shaking the ground beneath it as it lumbered toward them. The air was filled with the heavy sound of its roaring, snarling, and the sheer force of its aggression.
Savage, however, didn’t flinch.
She stood her ground, her eyes narrowing with the sort of calm menace that only a creature of her nature could possess. The bear, its senses screaming in alarm, had just enough time to register that something was very, very wrong before it was engulfed by the cat’s grotesquely extended maw. It bellowed in confusion, its desperate growl cut off by the sudden, suffocating darkness.
With a single, almost casual gulp, Savage swallowed the massive creature whole, her throat bulging strangley as the beast vanished into the depths of her stomach.
The scene that followed was disturbingly swift.
The remaining combatants, those few who were still trying to fight, faltered in the face of such raw, unfathomable power. Any resistance crumbled in short order, leaving nothing but silence and the faint echo of the bear’s last cry in the clearing.
Even without Savage’s insatiable appetite, Josul proved to be more than a match for the monstrous beasts that had been roused by their intrusion. The massive dog tore through them with terrifying ease, his powerful jaws rending the throats of attackers one after another. His massive form surged forward, dispatching them with brutal efficiency, each death followed by a savage toss of the bodies over to Savage, who, with a disgruntled mewl, reluctantly accepted the feast. She grumbled at the waste of such prime pickings, but the relentless battle left little room for niceties.
Meanwhile, Eliud was a tempest unto himself, unleashing a continuous barrage of liquid fire at the aggressive vegetation, the flames eating through the thick underbrush like an unstoppable force. Trees screamed in agony as their bark blackened and cracked under the intense heat. The relentless crackle of flames and the growls of the dying creatures filled the air, but, gradually, an eerie silence began to settle in the clearing, broken only by the occasional hiss of burning leaves.
The woods had been subdued.
Kirstin phased back into existence as soon as the final creature was dispatched. She had been watching them work with a smile - she doubted there were many more well-drilled military outfits. "Well done. It looked like you three have done something like that before!"
Eliud flicked a dismissive hand, extinguishing the flames that still licked at the trees surrounding them, and turned to face Kirstin with a grin that was anything but warm. He planted his hands on his hips, a posture that could only be described as excessively smug.
"Thank you. It is always gratifying to have the approval of such a battle-hardened veteran," he said. "Truly, your hours of adventuring experience mean so much to me. Why, even though legendary warriors have lauded me at the conclusion of epic wars, I will hold your applause as my dearest memory. I feel I should ask, though—" He raised an eyebrow, his tone turning pointed, "—is there any particular reason you chose not to play your own part in that skirmish?"
Kirstin shrugged as she bent to scoop up Savage, the cat curling effortlessly back onto her shoulder. As the kitten settled in, nibbling at the remnants of her feast, Kirstin marvelled once again at how light the little creature was. It was a strange thing, considering the animal's ability to devour with such reckless abandon, yet remain as airy as a breeze.
During their journey, Eliud had tried—tried—to explain the nature of Savage, but the best Kirstin could gather was that the cat was, in essence, a mobile, hungry portal. A being unto herself, devouring with an endless appetite, yet never expanding in size.
"So, anything she... eats just disappears somewhere?" Kirstin had once asked, struggling to wrap her mind around the concept.
Eliud had shrugged, the movement almost apologetic. "That’s the best I can figure. Her mass doesn’t increase, no matter how much she consumes. So, whatever she eats has to go somewhere. I’ve tried to look into it... I’m going to say 'throat' because ‘Hellmouth’ sounds judgmental." He paused, his face darkening with the unspoken knowledge. "And I'm comfortable saying that's not a threshold I would ever like to cross in earnest."
Kirstin had laughed softly at that, though the thought of what lay beyond Savage’s unseeable depths lingered in the back of her mind, an unsettling curiosity she would rather leave unexamined.
"Are the things she eats still alive after she swallows them?"
"I'm sure they are," Eliud had said. "If briefly - and very painfully - so, at any rate."
The cat let out a soft purr, nuzzling the side of Kirstin’s head with an affectionate but insistent bump. “I do not like it when you go missing like that. I cannot sense you when you have that Skill active. It is... unpleasant."
Kirstin smiled, ignoring Eliud’s quiet presence as she rested her cheek against the soft fur of Savage’s forehead. "I know, and I’m sorry," she said. "But you see, sometimes our friend—" she gestured toward Eliud with a tilt of her head, "—the big, bad Mage over there, forgets he’s not fighting on his own and uses Skills that are not exactly party-appropriate."
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Savage’s ears flicked in a dismissive gesture, as though the idea of Eliud's recklessness was something she’d seen too many times before. She gave a low growl, but there was no real malice in it. "He forgets, indeed. But I do not." Her paws kneaded against Kirstin’s shoulder, a soft, rhythmic pressure..
"I object to that!" Eliud protested. "We've been in several scraps on this journey, and I've never once -" Kirstin raised her eyebrows - "after the first couple of times," Eliud continued, "done anything to warrant such a terrible slur against my capabilities for restraint."
Josul barked and shook himself, the flames that one of Eliud's Skills had ignited on his fur going out under the vigorous motion.
"Oh, come on! Not you, too, Josul!" Eliud exclaimed, throwing his hands up in faux exasperation. "Do I have no allies left in this brave new world of group travel? I swear, the more this drags on, the more I'm reminded of exactly why I retreated into isolation in the first place."
Josul gave a low, whuffling sound.
“Sure you do!” Kirstin replied on behalf of the dog. “Plenty of people are thrilled to fight alongside you. As long as, you know, they’re immortal, inflammable, or have the ability to step out of time. For the rest of humanity?” She paused for effect, as Josul’s tail giving an exaggerated wag. “Well, it strikes them you’re something of a natural disaster.”
“A natural disaster?” Eliud repeated. “Is that how you all see me now? Just one big walking catastrophe?”
“I mean, you’re a very effective one. Destruction follows in your wake, whether it’s dire wolves, trees, or anyone unfortunate enough to be standing too close when you decide to change the nature of existence.”
The cat, who had been sitting serenely on Kirstin's shoulder, let out a contented purr as if she, too, approved of Kirstin’s assessment.
Eliud sighed dramatically. “Well, this is just great. At least I know where I stand now. Right at the heart of a group of very helpful allies. And it strikes me that someone is doing their very best to pretend they were not nervous about using their 'threshold bonus' for the first time.
Kirstin sniffed at that, suddenly no longer so interested in badinage.
*
In the midst of the chaotic rush that accompanied the ranking up of her
The name glowed with golden text: Shadowstrike.
Kirstin raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued. Threshold bonus, the notification had said, and now, with the bow in front of her, it was clear what that meant. Shadowstrike wasn't just another weapon—it was a step forward. It was an evolution, a gift from whatever force had been watching over her progress, a prize for surpassing the boundaries of her previous abilities.
Her fingers hovered over the item, as she took in the fine, almost translucent quality of the bow. Its design was sleek and elegant—designed for speed and precision. The power emanating from it felt different, almost alive in a way that was distinctly unnerving.
For a moment, she stood still, allowing herself a rare moment of awe. As her hand closed around the bow’s grip, the world around her seemed to shift, as though it too recognised that something new had entered the fray.
It was crafted from a material Kirstin did not recognise; its surface was as smooth and polished as anything she had ever seen, and its deep, non-reflective finish was a thing of beauty. After pulling it from her inventory, she ran her hands down its length, marvelling at its feel.
It was not made of wood, she did not think.
When asked, Eliud simply smiled back with an infuriatingly knowing look in his eyes.
Ignoring the Pendragon, Kirstin carefully held the bow out in front of her, examining it with a sense of both wonder and practical appreciation. The limbs of Shadowstrike were perfectly designed, its recurve design a flawless balance between form and function. It was a thing of beauty, but also of deadly purpose—each curve suggesting a union of power and precision, as if the bow had been crafted specifically for her.
One of Kirstin's greatest frustrations as an Archer had always been her inability to wield the massive longbows she'd seen displayed around Keep Trellec. Her height had always been a limiting factor, preventing her from harnessing the full potential of those towering weapons. But as she ran her fingers along the smooth, polished wood of Shadowstrike, she realised it was different. This bow was compact, yet perfectly engineered to maximise the energy transfer from her draw to the arrow.
She could feel it in the way her grip settled naturally into place, as though the bow had been waiting for her all along. The curve promised not just speed, but a force that should not belong to something of this size. It was far more powerful than any bow this size had a right to be—this was a weapon that was going to change the way she fought.
The thought of drawing it, of pulling back the string and releasing an arrow with that much force, sent a thrill through her. The power was in her hands now, not in the size of the weapon, but in how it harmonised with her own strength, precision, and growing skill. She couldn’t help but smirk slightly as she imagined the devastation she could unleash with it.
For the first time in a long while, Kirstin felt the weight of her potential shift, as if the bow had just unlocked something inside of her.
To her professional eye, Kirstin could sense it was designed to endure repeated heavy draws without losing elasticity. The string's minimal stretch and quick rebound enhanced the bow's efficiency, allowing for rapid follow-up shots.
Power and speed, she thought—the best of both worlds.
As her fingers played along the length of her bow, Kirstin felt intricate runes etched along the grip, their lines so fine they were almost invisible at first sight. Now she looked more carefully, she could see that these runes glowed faintly with a silvery light, pulsing softly in rhythm with her heartbeat.
She had, much as she did not like to do so, asked Eliud about that.
Eliud paused for a moment, as if weighing whether to speak, before Josul’s low growl broke the silence, and he sighed in acknowledgment, offering a brief nod. “Apologies,” he muttered, then turned his gaze back to the bow in Kirstin’s hands.
“I would suggest that this piece is soulbound to you,” he said. "The way the glow aligns so perfectly with the rhythm of your heartbeat speaks of a deep connection—one that goes beyond mere craftsmanship. It's as if this bow is attuned to you, responding to something primal within. A bond like this isn’t just forged; it’s made. You and this weapon are now linked in ways that can’t easily be undone.”
He stepped closer, inspecting the intricate markings that now glowed faintly along the bow’s limbs. “Furthermore,” Eliud continued, “these runes... they're not just decoration. They’re charging—and that glow? It’s not just light. It’s an indicator that the bow is ‘powering up’, preparing for something greater. As the power within the bow builds, so too does its potential.”
His eyes flicked to Kirstin, his expression curious. “It would be fascinating to see what kind of shot you could produce once the glow solidifies. The power locked inside could very well exceed anything you’ve experienced before."
Kirstin smiled. The thought of unleashing something far more potent than anything she had imagined sent a flicker of excitement through her. She couldn't wait to find out just how far this bond would take her. She nodded her thanks, adopting her shooting stance.
Shadowstrike's design, she noticed, incorporated reinforced nocks and a slightly reflexed profile, which should reduce hand shock and increase the speed of her arrows. The longbow's draw weight was substantial, allowing for deeper arrow penetration and greater impact force, but nothing that she did not think she could handle.
In fact, the bow’s balance was flawless, with a centre of mass aligned for stable handling. The grip, contoured as if to fit her hand, would ensure a steady aim, even in the heat of battle. Kirstin tentatively drew it and smiled as the bow's tension was evenly distributed.
It was as close to perfect as anything she had ever held.
Kirstin could sense that every component was designed to achieve one thing: to deliver arrows with deadly accuracy and unparalleled power. This was a bow designed for an expert Archer - a Celestial Harbinger, if you will - capable of turning even the most challenging shot into a deadly certainty.
Which made it all the more strange that she had not wished to use it in their most recent battle.
"Leave the girl alone," Savage hissed. "If she does not want to use her new toy, then that is her business. It was not like we needed the help!"
Eliud shrugged. "No, indeed. However, it has always been my experience that it is worth taking the opportunity to try out new weapons in circumstances where their success is not vital. I would not like," he continued, turning his gaze to rest on Kirstin, "to have the first time you use it to be in profound earnest. That way, problems lie."
Kirstin met his eyes and nodded. "I understand. I just . . . I don't know. I don't know if I feel worthy of it!"
"We sometimes are gifted things of great power, Kirstin. Those that make those gifts expect them to use them."
"But who gave me this gift? Do you know?" Kirstin asked.
"Ah," Eliud said, "now that is a fascinating question. One we can reflect on as we travel. But we’ve wasted enough time." In an instant, his demeanour shifted—becoming all business, every ounce of the Duskstrider’s focus snapping into place. "For now, we need a direction for our quest!"
He looked down at Josul, who was sitting calmly by his side, his giant frame a quiet presence amidst the growing storm of their plans. "Josul, can you smell Genoes anywhere?"
At the very mention of Genoes, Josul’s head shot up, his nostrils flaring as his ears perked. Without a second’s hesitation, he let out a ferocious, baying roar that shook the trees around them. Then, in a blur of motion, the huge lapdog turned and tore into the woods, crashing through the underbrush with the force of a hurricane.
Eliud’s smile widened. "It would seem, my dear, that the game is afoot!"
With that, he lifted a hand, channelling an overwhelming surge of mana that erupted around him in a brilliant outpouring of energy. He rose effortlessly into the air, propelled by the force of his power, soaring above the treetops with a speed that defied nature itself.
Kirstin, watching him vanish into the sky, muttered under her breath, "Unlimited mana pool, and he leaves us to run."
“It is always that way with the great ones,” Savage’s voice rumbled in her ear. "They forget that the rest of us have limitations."
And then, without another word, they followed.
The woods closed in around them, dark and unyielding, as the hunt began. The air was thick with the scent of the chase, the promise of what lay ahead: Genoes, lost and waiting, and the storm of unknowns that still swirled in the depths of their quest.
The forest was alive, and so were they.