Klar sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking over at his lover's side of the bed, not surprised she wasn't there. She awoke earlier than he usually did. He slid out of the bed, pulled his greaves and boots on, then fixed his gauntlets and armour together and carried them down the stairs, his sword and waraxe in his other hand. Downstairs, he motioned to the innkeeper and ordered a meal, then finished fitting his armour. As he ate, he flipped a copper to the innkeeper's son and told him to saddle their mounts.

He was almost finished eating when his lover returned, sweeping her hair into a bundle and gracefully tying a leather thong in it. She graced him with a smile then motioned to the innkeeper for ale. As she sat across from her warrior lover, she 'spoke' directly to his mind. Where do we go from here? With Elemec dead, we're fat of coin. To my home? Her tone was hopeful.

"I think we'll take the portal to Gauntstar. From there we can ride to Eros, then from there to Vault." His voice was like gravel. The scars on his body attested to his battles while the tattoos that glowed on his arms and back showed his dedication to being a battlemage as the scars across his neck and face showed the torture he had gone through as a mercenary child. Compared to him, his lover was an angel though her face was sharp and her eyes blind. Her luminous silver hair draped down her back and while her figure was fine, it was hidden beneath her robes.

She smiled. Vault was her home. She had been the daughter of an Oracle who had been raped by a bandit king. Her mother had moved to Vault, cut off her hair, and lived as a servant to her daughter's future lover's guild, the Guild Of War. When Valla had been born, her mother had had a vision, one that she never spoke of after that. When Valla had turned seven and had been accepted as a student of the guild, her mother had disappeared.

"Valla, we're ready."

She nodded and stood, then walked outside. Klar tossed the innkeeper a bag of silver and copper pieces, then followed Valla out, strapping his armour in place, his sword and waraxe holstered across his back while his gauntlets swung from straps until he got to them. Barstow had elemental golems guarding it so he didn't need to be ready at all times and could dress at leisure.

With his gauntlets in place, he stood tall and proud, his face mostly covered as his armour locked together and began to give off a faint hue of dark purple light. While it was black War Assassin's Armour, he preferred it over his own specialty's armour, Battle Plate which was heavy, harder to move in, and hampered all spells. It had less protection and hampered him from using more intricate spells, but he rarely used more than healing or tactical spells and it gave him more maneuverability.

His horse, a blue roan Klydesdaemon, a half-breen demon and draft horse, bared its teeth, then relented to Klar's advance. It hated being ridden but had been broken by Klar while he had been at the Guild. While it tolerated others near it and to saddle it, the demon bred horse hated to submit, though did day after day. It had never tried to throw Klar or leave him and he was quite sure the hissing and snapping was all for show.

Valla's mount was a strawberry roan that could have been born of a unicorn and a draft mare if not for the fact that a unicorn would run from her.

They were turning to head towards the portals at the end of town when Valla giggled, the few things she would actually make noise for. She was a self-imposed mute though, on occasion, she would speak a word or two.

"What?"

I found a hat, she projected in to his mind.

"Oh. Let's go."

It's for you.

"Ah. Alright, then let's see it."

She giggled again as she reached under her robes, then pulled it out. In her hand was a bright purple hat, a design usually worn by those men who ran the houses of prostitution.

He took it from her and looked down at it, then at her. "You want me to wear this?"

She nodded, smiling. He sighed and placed it on his mostly bald head except for a long pony tail wrapped around his neck, covering the serpent tattoo that covered the top of his head and right side of his face. The armour he wore and the hat together covered almost his full face except for a strip across his eyes and his whole body.

You look gooood.

Klar rolled his eyes and said, "Move out," snapping his reins.

His destrier kicked up dust as they moved away, Valla's palfrey following without any urging from her. Her palfrey knew what to do.

Klar tossed the young man selling roast krate coppers and received two of the roast beasts on sticks. Valla waved off his offer so Klar ate the first one quickly as they rode and leisurely picked at the second, waving off a carrion bird that kept trying to get at the meat.

They paid to use the portals and rode through, their destination dialed into the immense crystalline mushrooms that grew near the portals and controlled them via parasitic roots.

Oh my, that is so pretty, Klar heard and turned to look where Valla was. He saw a hand-fasting ceremony in a clearing ringed by luminous Fate Flowers. He repressed a sigh, knowing Valla wouldn't move until the ceremony was over. Sometimes he wondered how she saw but usually ignored the thought. She saw what she needed to, her mother's Oracular abilities infused with her father's abilities. Klar knew the man well. He had been the one who had eviscerated him, then hung him with his own entrails from the entrance arch of Banditown. Now the city was a festering ruin of burnt and gutted buildings and salted land. The raid had been Klar's first command. He had led fifty guild acolytes into battle. In the battle he had lost only three men and four horses. From that battle he had gained his first Magi tattoo, a defaced bandit seal on his right shoulder, the ink infused with Magi Potion. It was painful, more than anything he could remember but the glowing tattoos were the mark of Heroes and only those were worthy could wear one without the tattoo burning through the skin. He had had to try.

Valla clapped when the hand-fasting ceremony was over, then whispered a blessing from the goddess Nymaia.

Klar wondered if she could truly bless with the god's blessings since she wasn't a virgin or a true Oracle. He didn't say anything as they continued to ride but could feel the amusement bubbling from Valla into his mind. She had heard his wonderings and found amusement in them, reminding him the gods weren't as capricious as the priests acted.

Inside the town of Gauntstar, they stopped at the wall and looked at the posted jobs, all written by the same man since so few could actually read aside from recognizing the few symbols they needed to know.

There were no heroes needed in the town it seemed at first until Valla lifted a plea to the gods for a respite from rain and they saw that a spirit had been seen walking the burial grounds. Klar wanted to ignore it but knew Valla would want to see the spirit to its final rest, an annoyance of his. He disliked spirits and the other reminders of the dead. With as many as he had slain, ghosts were not unusual to him. Many who died on his blade wanted revenge.

Inside the burial grounds they found the spirit standing over a plot under an ancient Kira tree. Klar examined the tombs and plots as Valla approached the spirit. After a few moments, he knelt and ran his hand over a plot. He could feel something under the ground that didn't belong. He hesitated for a moment, then began pressing into the ground with a cleaving spell. It wasn't as affective as a shovel would be but he wasn't going to draw his weapons on consecrated grounds just to use them to dig a few inches of dirt.

Soon, the item came clear of the dirt and he cast water spout on it. He was studying the strange crystal when Valla approached. I have sent her on to the next step of life.

"Fine. Does this look familiar to you?"

No. What is it?

"I don't know. I'm going to have to keep a lookout for more of them, I think. Something says that I should study them. let's tell them the problem is taken care of."

She nodded, then graced him with a kiss before pulling away and mounting her palfrey.

Klar resisted the urge to suggest a tryst in the burial grounds.

In the town, Klar let them know the spirit had been placated and accepted the pay, then they continued on the road, trotting faster than normal since it was so late in the day. They didn't make it to the next outpost before dark but the horses were tired and hot. As Valla curried Sari, her horse, Klar got a fire going and set out their bedrolls. He slammed his waraxe into a nearby stump, then set out a pile of dried fruit and their waterbag on a flat stone.

Valla began to curry the Klydesdaemon as Klar pulled dried sweetmeats from another bag, then added them to his shield over the fire and filled with water. It was an ignoble use but to Klar they were tools, except for his sword. That was a treasured relic of his father's, the former guildmaster of the Wizard's guild.

I'm so tired.

"Sleep, then. But eat a bit first. You barely touched the mutton stew at the last outpost."

It was too greasy. Beside, you ate enough of it.

Klar smiled, kissed her, then summoned a wildling. The small sprite that appeared listened solemnly as he gave the orders, then settled a few feet above the fire, hanging in air and watching for approaching people.

Valla picked at the sweetmeats but ate most of the fruits and a piece of hardtack softened in the boiled water, then curled up in Klar's arms as they stretched out for the night, using her bag to cushion herself against his armour.

The next morning, Valla and Klar cavorted in the water, cleaning themselves, the Klydesdaemon standing over their piles of clothing and armour, watching it.

Valla jumped when she felt a hand between her legs, then fell into the kiss from Klar. She almost submitted to the seductive moment until a hunting Skall broke the stillness with a loud screech. She pulled away, using her luminous under robes to hide herself as she got out of the water in case anyone was around. Klar didn't care and walked out of the water, his tattoos glowing brighter than normal except for the one across his chest, a stylized skull that was actually made of a few dozen dark skinned women lying together in different poses. His father had been well known for his experience and the tattoo had been designed by him to commemorate his fiftieth woman. Klar wore it in remembrance, though in private he thought it was awesome by itself.

Back in their clothing, Valla walked off to relieve herself as Klar resaddled their mounts and checked their hooves for anything they might have picked up.

"We'll have you have you both reshod in the next town, methinks," Klar murmured to himself, running his hand through his now loose ponytail.

When Valla returned from washing her hands in the lake, she began to plait his hair, weaving in strands of her own in an intricate pattern, hoping the hexery would help protect him even more. His armour was weak against some magicks while her robes were quite strong against them yet weak against weapons.

He stole a kiss, then helped her mount and pulled himself up on his horse, still working on a name. He had had the beast almost nine years and he still hadn't come up with a name for it.

They made it to town a few minutes after the sun had reached the apex of the sky and ambled through Eros, mostly ignoring the prostitutes and other street walkers that worked the city of sin.

As their horses approached Vault, a horn sounded, signifying the gates would be closing in minutes. They kicked them up to a gallop and raced through the gates. Inside, as they slowed, whispers came from the villagers who recognized them.

All those women waving for you annoy me.

“Of course they do,” he told her, smiling. He ran his hand over her shoulder, thinking about the things she could do with her mouth. She blushed slightly, letting her hair fall forward to hide her face and the redness of her face.

The guild building rose out of the perpetual fog that surrounded it then they saw the small home her mother had owned. As a local urchin stabled their horses for a copper, the two undid the spells locking the home then walked in, Valla casting cleaning spells.

Klar placed his sword in the claws of a firecrab he had killed, then activated the spell to lock the sword in place. His axe went up on two hooks hear the door then he lit the fire with a spell as Valla went shopping. While she was gone, he took the money they had earned and poured it into a chest, then walked to a door and looked for a guild acolyte or one of the street urchins.

“Hey, you, kid.”

“Yes, Avatar?” Klar had been stuck with the name ever since he destroyed Banditown. The destruction of the town had been foretold by an Oracle the morning that he led the raid as his final test.

“Tell the banker to come by with a cart.”

“Yes, sir,” the kid replied as Klar handed him a brace of coppers then walked back inside, trying to remember where he had left his pipe and Nymph tobacco as he changed into town clothing.

He was slowly packing his pipe, carefully making sure he didn't lose any of the tobacco. The blend was the most expensive around and very hard to get a hold of. One of the herbs that was part of the blend was illegal in most of the country, though it used in other blends had not been criminalized.

As Klar was lighting the blend, there was a knock at the door. He walked to it and invited the banker in.

“Good to see you back, Klar. Have a deposit for me?” It was easier in some cases for the banker to come to his clients than the clients to come to the banker.

“Aye. In the chest. Good to see you, Shise.”

The banker walked back out and carried another chest in then sat down at the table and began counting, using an abacus to keep track. He was only a quarter of the way through when Valla returned carrying a sack of food she had bought in the city center.

She smiled at the banker then walked into the kitchen. Though the home was small, it had separate rooms and two floors, a rarity. They had been offered almost fifty thousand gold for it at one time.

The smell of the stew simmering filled the home as Shise showed them the tally, marked it on their bankroll scroll, then dragged the chest out as Klar placed the scroll in his armor's waterproof pocket.

He looked over Valla's shoulder, then hugged her to him and kissed her neck, running his hands up her body to her ample breasts.

“You know what I like about you?” he whispered in her ear and she shivered. Klar answered before she could think of anything. “I love the fact that you can't say no.” His left hand was pulling her robes up.

She smiled, then stepped on his foot hard. I may not be able to say stop but I can make you.

He winced but didn't stop his ministrations and she shivered again, this time moaning. She moved the stew off the fire and pulled him towards the stairs.

Valla watched the children doing their magi training in the Guild's clearing, others working with bows or with their swordsmanship, teachers of the Guild watching and grading. She turned away and walked to the Guild's map room and looked to see what jobs were available for her and Klar. He was on a short job, looking for a missing pet in the Clarette Woods.

As she read the available jobs, she could feel some people watching her. It was understandable. She had no eyes to see out of so how could she see to read? She could hear the question and variants of it in their minds. She also heard men wondering about her and tried to push those out of her mind. The only man she enjoyed hearing lust after her was her man.

Klar cleaned the blood off his blade with the shirt of the man he had just slain, then looted him, stealing the belt buckle, weapons, boots, and helmet, leaving the rest since it wasn't worth anything. He tossed the loot into his bag and mounted his Klydesdaemon.

They continued through the forest, looking for trail sign of the missing city mascot, a white Heron. A throw-net hung from the pommel of his saddle.

Klar was about to turn back for the night when a figure leapt out, branding a war cleaver. Before the bandit could speak, his mount had kicked up and brought down its immense feet, crushing the skull of the man. When the horse was done moving about, Klar dismounted and began riffling the corpse.

He was on his way back to town when he saw a flash of white amongst a field of green heather. He hesitated, preparing the net then when he saw it again, he threw. The net wrapped around the bird before it could attempt to escape. Klar dismounted once again and walked over to check it over, ignoring the attacks from the bird since they wouldn't affect him. Carefully extending the right wing, he checked for a black feather and smiled. This was the target. A quick movement had the bird's wings and legs tied and he set him in a wicker urn hanging from his pommel as he packed away the throw-net.

Hours later, back in the town the sun was setting as he handed over the bird feeling like a kidnapper. With his pay in hand, he made his way to the local bank hoping it wasn't closed yet. He was unlucky but decided to get home right away instead of staying in town. He kicked his mount to speed and raced through the almost empty streets heading towards the portals.

He ended up taking the portal to Vault Bay, a two hour ride from Vault Proper. Kicking his destrier to speed again, they made good time, arriving just as the horn sounded for the gate locking for the night. They held it open for a few seconds for him and he walked through, dismounting and walking alongside his horse.

Valla was walking home when she noticed Tomar's Armoury was fuller than usual. She went inside and poked around, ignoring the cheap items until she froze in front of a pair of helmets. Matching Einherjar helmets for a female magus and a male warrior's full helm. The male's resembled a skeleton though glimmered with a golden light while the woman's was open faced and designed more to hold the hair out of the way. She looked around, trying to see if he had the rest of the sets and saw the proprietor had the boots, shield and gauntlets for a warrior and the war skirt, boots and staff for a magus. She hesitated, knowing it was a lot of money but the beauty and usefulness of the items drew her in and she motioned the owner over and gestured that he wanted for the parts of the set.

“Well, I was planning on charging a bit over one hundred thousand gold but for you? I'm sell them all to you for...,” she leaned over as he was speaking, unintentionally showing more cleavage and he coughed. “I'll let you have them for one—no, for ninety-seven thousand.”

She nodded and waited as he filled out the slip. The man knew they had the money so he accepted a writ of charge he could present at the bank. He wrapped the items for her and she made her way down the street to their home. Inside, she locked them in their upstairs chest, then decided to go to the baths. She changed into a looser fitting gown and gathered her cleaning supplies then headed out, locking the house with the strongest spell she knew.

Inside the baths, she undressed and slid into the hot water. A few other members of the guild gave greetings as they either soaked in the hewn from rock tubs or rinsed under the waterfalls. She was here mostly to relax, though Valla did plan to possibly wash her hair later.

She was underneath the waterfalls, rinsing her hair potion out when she heard someone call her name. A girl from the streets approached and told her that the Avatar Of Revenge had returned. She nodded thanks and quickly finished, not even taking time to dry before pulling on her violet robes and heading out to see if he had finished his mission.

She was walking in the door when she was caught up in his arms and kissed.

Klar murmured into her hair as he set her down.

Did you find the bird, oh Avatar Of Revenge, she teased.

“Yes,” he told her. “I put the money in the chest. What've you been up to?”

She smiled then handed him a quest slip.

“'Our'—what is the second word?” He hadn't paid enough attention to some classes.

It's an elvish word. it means home.

“Ah. 'Our home is slowly dying. We believe outside influences are causing it. We cannot leave the city and request a human Guildmember investigate.' That's—that's a nice bit of money.'' She nodded. It was technically enough to retire on. And it would effectively triple what they had in the bank. “How big is their home?”

The forest is their home. The word means city as well. You should know this. You were supposed to learn Elvish.

“That's why I have you. I know Hobbit and Orc speak and you know Elvish and Elderean.”

Yes, but I don't speak, dummy.

He ignored that and kissed her again. “Let's go to the tavern. The Honey Mead is being served tonight with lamb kabobs and that rabbit food thing you like to make me eat.”

It's called a salad. It balances out the meats.

“Bah. There're grains in beer and mead. You said grains are the same as rabbit food.” Another class he had ignored for the most part.

She laughed as they walked upstairs to change. He pulled on black leathers then pulled on his War Assassin boots and gauntlets. While Vault was safe, on occasion there were occasional attacks by wild animals or duels over women. Being prepared was best. He slipped his fighting daggers into their sheathes on the gauntlets, then debated his sword as Valla stood in her thin shift, looking at her different gowns, then decided on the one based on what Oracles wore, with a hood that came down over her eyes and would completely hide her hair, though show a shocking amount of cleavage and skin as it was slit from wrist to shoulder and from ankle to thigh.

Klar watched with apt fascination as she pulled the shift off, then pulled the gown on, using a thin paste to hold it in place just above her navel and on the inner curves of her breasts. If not, it would have fell away, showing everything on the first movement.

Stop staring at me. You know what I look like. She was blushing.

He smiled and swatted her on the bottom as he passed her.

As she applied makeup, Klar studied their trophies, though the more gruesome were piled in another room, occasionally put on display outside the guild building when it lacked heads to display. Enemies of the guild often became decorations of the guild, remembrances that the guild was their for the protection of the people unlike some others.

Finally she came down the stairs and they walked to the guild then inside and into the private tavern of the guild. As they sat in their old places they had sat as students, food was set in front of them and immense skulls turned into mugs were set in front of them, then Honey Mead sloshed into them. Laughing, talking, joking filled the room. Students were equals of Warriors when in this room.

Klar remembered his first fist fight. It had taken place in this room. Heated words had been exchanged between him and a Warrior twice his age, a former Battalion Commander in the king's army. The Warrior had slapped Klar for being insolent, forgetting that at that moment, they were equals. Klar had blinked twice, then growled and leaped over the table, grappling on and knocking the larger man to the floor. The man got one good hit in, fracturing a rib on Klar but the Berserker Battle Lust was in Klar and his fists came crashing down on the man's face over and over, beating him until three instructors pulled him off and the guildmaster threw a bucket of water on him.

Klar had stilled, staring down at the man as his ruined face bled out onto the stones of the floor.

“The battle was fairly fought, though unfairly began,” the guildmaster stated. “Get him cleaned up. Take young Klar to be tattooed in remembrance of this, then... I think a week of mucking in the gardens with the servants will be fair punishment for not taking it outside.”

Klar had hung his head in shame.

He shook off the memory and laughed at a joke then took a deep drink of his mead, smiling at Valla across the table then tearing a huge chunk of meat from his kabob and chewing it noisily as he replied to a question from a Student.

“Avatar?” A small voice queried and he turned. A youngster was behind him, holding a missive. Klar took it and thanked the young boy with a copper, more than he should have received since it was a Student's duty to run errands.

He read it and looked to the guildmaster who was watching. Klar nodded, then stuffed the note into his gauntlet and ate a forkful of the salad Valla was insisting he ate.

“Klar, have you thought about fighting in the Coliseum?” Fared, another Warrior, asked.

“Actually, I have. I was thinking that after this next mission I would go in. Are you?'

“No, not yet. I'm actually going to Lo'Andar in a tenday. Don't have the time. Off to fight off the beasts to open another city.”

Klar nodded then smiled at Valla as she ran her calve along his leg.

Klar studied the map of the realm, then flipped to the next page of the book, tracing their route. The cities of the elves were not connected to the cities of humans by the portals except one. They were in that city at the moment, in the human sector of it, studying the routes they would take. The elves traveled underground and through special forest paths that humans were forbade from seeing but they never left the forests or traveled through the plains, weakened by the lack of greensong.

“We'll travel this way, then it'll take two days to go around this city to find the entrance.” Their forest-cities were surrounded by wide rivers, spelled by the forebears of the elves to help protect the cities from before they came to the forests. Only in certain area was the water low enough for horses to enter, one at a time. They had not always been so dependent on the greensong and had once been plains dwellers.

Valla nodded, admiring how he looked in his armour. He was wearing the boots, shield and gauntlets she had bought him along with the greaves and torso piece from his Assassin's Armour, and while they didn't lock together and produce the glow they way his set of Assassin's had, the glow from the separate pieces created a palpable feel of greatness and power. Valla wore her own pieces, the skirt slit up both thighs, but covered with charms and hexes to cover the legs during battle. Klar turned to look at her legs for a moment, then looked at the sky, still dark though brightening with tendrils of gold light.

“Why don't you check the armoury shops and see if they have any more of the pieces to these while I get some supplies? I'm going to buy a new bow.”

She nodded and nudged her horse with a knee, pulling her modified hoodlet out from the helmet and covering her eyes. The guild emblem became a sort of shield over her face.

Ouside the two armoury shops in the town, she dismounted, then walked inside the smaller one, looking around, ignoring the blank spots she couldn't see. Her mother had told her that the things she could not see were a blessing from the gods. She smiled bitterly, wondering where her mother was. No Oracle she had spoken to had ever been able to tell her anything except that one day she would know why her mother had left.

The proprietor tried to get her in conversation but she shook her head, then left the store. There was nothing of use. In the other store she was surprised to find the rest of the armour to complete Klar's suit. Since they were on the road, they had packed out gold and platinum, each platinum coin worth twenty thousand gold. She was carrying five hundred of them and five thousand gold pieces. Klar was carrying the same amount. It was a lot to be carrying around but sometimes you needed that excess coin to pay for mercenaries or hire a thief to finesse a problem you can't.

She pointed to the items and when the man asked her if she wanted them, then waited patiently for an answer, she removed the helmet and stared into his eyes with her own blind eyes. He shivered and said, “Th-they'll be-be... seventy thousand gold.” She stared, enjoying his discomfiture. “Sixty five?” She tossed him three platinum coins, one after the other. “R-right. Sixty thousand. A-a f-fair deal, then.” He packaged them quickly and she walked out, fighting not to laugh. It was cruel to torment the man like that but his thoughts on what he wanted to do to her were even worse.

My love? She had found him, staring at the vegetables in the market. Look what I found.

He turned and smiled at her, then saw she was holding the armour. “Didn't find any worthwhile bows. How much did it cost?” When she told he, he nodded, took two platinum coins from his money bag, and handed them to her as she handed him the bundled armour. In a dim corner of an alley, Klar stripped down and pulled the armor on. The golden glow of the armor brightened as the pieces clicked together, feeling out the rightness of each piece. With the shield on his back over his sword and waraxe, he stood, his boots making him almost sixty-nine inches, eleven inches taller than the average male and fifteen taller than his lover.

She smiled at him and murmured, “Love.” The sound was rough from long disuse, but still sweet to Klar.

He smiled at her, then leaned down to kiss her tenderly before pulling away and pulling the helmet into place. “You have such a beautiful voice,” he told her as he mounted his horse.

She smiled wanly.

With the old armor on one of their pack horses, which were actually magical constructs, the two made their way to the exit of the city.

Near the living gates of the city, they were stopped by a wizened elven woman. Klar wasn't sure, but since the lived to be three hundred years old, she had to be reaching that century of life.

“Yes, good woman? How may we help you?”

Valla smiled at her politely.

“You are the ones going to help Falla'Dri'El?”

“Yes.”

“You must speak with my father before you go.”

Klar was about to protest until Valla whispered in his mind. He shivered, unsure why, then nodded.

“Of course.” They followed her to a home, then walked inside, the magical horses in between their own as they waited outside.

Inside the home, they were led past the extended family to a room at the back of the home, a small family shrine. The woman's even more wizened father awaited them inside.

Klar nodded, then introduced himself and his lover. The elderly Elf nodded, then gestured him closer. As his family watched, the elderly man spoke one last time. “Faha, tallalee, Sokra, coni cona kwerate, hiro. Toni chi wa. Pes Bey vim Ju.”

Klar caught him, reverently settling him to the ground as his family began to approach. He and his lover stood, bowed, then left them to their mourning.

He said that 'The Death Clans walk in fire.' He also blessed you.

“And they are?” Klar asked. She shrugged and he nodded. “Alright, we ride, then.”

Valla dropped to her knees and wrote in the dust, then spit into the writing. When it hit, her blessing and ward spells were activated. The gods would help protect the home, even though the elves worshiped other gods than hers.

Valla blinked at the immense creature standing in front of her then looked at Klar. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, my summon just felt stronger.”

She nodded. Whatever he had summoned was very dangerous looking yet its smile was sweet. She shrugged and lifted the blanket, gesturing for him to join her. He banked the fire, then joined her as the summoned creature began to walk in a circle around their camp.

Hours later, when they awoke, the summoned creature was still there, now idly juggling a handful of green apples it had taken off a a tree nearby. Kral grinned at the sight, then canceled the summon. The apples fell out of the air.

Valla went to the nearby riverbed and washed her mouth out, running a twig across her teeth in a vigorous motion as Klar did the same, slower as he filled the feedbags of their mounts. With the horses ready for the day, Klar cast a water spell on the fire and rolled up their bedrolls and folded his horse blanket. As he resaddled his horse, Sari knickered and he took a moment to scratch her forelock.

He mounted his horse as Sari trotted to Valla, then kicked his to a gallop, the two following.

Hours later, they found that there had been clear cutting burning being done around the forest they were approaching. The exterior trees were carbon scored and, on occasion, still smoldering. Valla cast spells soaking those trees smoldering as Klar studied the damage. He wasn't a ranger but he could read the attacks well enough.

He took a bit of char and dirt, then sniffed it. Licking it off his finger, he nodded stiffly, then stood and sniffed the wind. There was nothing. He remounted and they trotted to the city entrance, Klar calling out, “War Guildsmen coming in peace! Our weapons are yours!” A modification of the traditional greeting. He never liked the sound of 'Guildsmen Of War.'

The gates appeared slowly, formed from the trees over the centuries, the doors hanging off of trees wide enough a home could be carved in one with dozens of rooms the size of taverns.

A greeting party of seven male elves and the female leader of the city-state awaited them just inside. Klar slid off his horse and gave a short bow. “Klar 'Avatar Of Revenge' Magus, of the Guild Of War. This is Valla Guildsman, also of the Guild Of War.” Since her mother had been raped, Valla refused to use her 'father's' name, and she did not know her mother's family name. Klar's last name was a diminutive of his father's title, Grandmagus Of the Mage's Guild. “We come as your swords to do battle.”

Valla slid off her horse and nodded then gave a short curtsy.

“Welcome. We cannot allow you into the city proper, but we have brought supplies and magick scrolls for you to peruse.” The woman Elf said. She pointed to large stalls and Klar nodded as she continued, “I will fill you in on what we know and then you can peruse. They have been ordered to give you a fair discount but this is our down payment.” Two young elves, both still children in form, approached, holding boxes.

Klar dropped to his knee and opened one of the boxes. Inside was a flatbow and a quiver filled with a dozen different arrow types. He recognized the heads and nodded. “They're beautiful,” he spoke. he meant the bow as well as the arrows. It was made of Delarian Yew, a very strong wood that flexed exquisitely but only grew in to large trees after hundreds of years. Finding one tree good enough for one bow could take a craftsman his whole life. They were giving them two as part of the pay.

Valla nodded and Klar said, “She does not speak. We have a question. Before we left Trader's Town, an Elf told us 'The Death Clans walk in fire.' He died as soon as he finished speaking. I'm thinking that this has to do with your problems?”

The leader of the city nodded then shooed off the two children and most of her retinue except her two advisors. “Yes, the Death Clans are a human wizard society. They once were a loose organization that had much infighting. Thirty years ago, they were united under one necromancer. He was refused access to our city. We thought nothing of it at first. I didn't think he would attack us but....” She trailed off after a moment and seemed to be looking into her memories.

Klar nodded and turned to Valla. She nodded and he said, “We only need a few supplies like food and grain for our two horses. And extra arrows, I should think. Also, Valla needs to practice with a bow first.”

“The quivers are enchanted,” one of the advisors spoke. “They will continue refilling but the charm has to be every sixteenday.” The second nodded and said, “We will prepare food for you while you practice.”

Klar and Valla nodded as one of the advisors spoke in Elvish, loudly. A few moments later a tree stump was brought over with a man sized target on it and set in front of the gates.

Over the next two hours, Klar And Valla practiced with the bows, Klar firing into the head of target perfectly while all of Valla's hit the body in a haphazard pattern.

Finally, tired of being a spectacle for the Elves, the two were shown to a small building in a tree near the gate used by their guards. They slept there.

Klar and Valla were awoken by a great ringing and quickly dressed, finding flames reaching into the sky. They mounted their horses and rode out to the plains, Klar sword in hand as fire suffused over Valla's hands, her magicks ready for battle.

Two dozen men dressed in red and black were lit up by the fire and Klar made his way that way, his battle cry filling the air as he swallowed the blood he had drawn from his tongue by biting it. His Berzerker Battle Lust was upon him and his laughter was eerie and beguiling, literally scaring one Death Cult member to death as it made him panic and fall into the fire, dying almost instantly from the magical flames.

His first swing had him rip the head off of one of the Cultists with the broad side of his sword then he leapt off his horse. The Klydesdaemon instantly wheeled and ran to safety, herding the magical construct horses as Klar laughed again, ducking a spell and skewering another Cultist, reveling in the blood as he used his armor-clad foot to kick the body off his blade.

Valla cast an ice spell, watching it strike one of the Cultists, then cast a fire spell around him. As the ice melt, she cast Stormbringer above him. Clouds formed and the puddle of water and ice was hit with bolt after bolt of lightning as she turned her attention to more of the cultists.

Klar was dueling with one of the Cultists, his sword in his left and his shield in his right. As he parried another overhand blow, he brought his sword up in an uppercut style swing, slicing into the other man's shield arm deep enough he dropped his sword and tried to choke off a scream. He swung at Klar but he was parried, effectively knocking his sword out of his hand. Klar caught him by the neck of his robes, spun him around, then drew his sword across the man's neck, drawing it back until he heard the blade grate on the spinal column.

Klar threw up his shield as a Cultist cast Storm of Darts at him. He blocked most, though one dart caught him in the arm. he gritted his teeth as he yanked it out, then threw his waraxe, watching it tumble for a moment before looking away as it split the head of the man open, lodging in his cranium.

In the moment of peace, he saw six more. Valla's magic attacks had been very effective. But five of them were surrounding him, all carrying large axes. He laughed as he cast a summons. From the ground erupted two immense skeletal wyrms, as he advanced on the closest.

Valla hesitated for a moment then 'screamed,' the psychic echo ripping through the three Death Cultists approaching her, causing them to scream and grab at their heads, blood leaking from their eyes and ears as she cast spikes into their chests, killing them, then making sure. In the fire light, she finally noticed one Cultist, just watching the battle between Klar and his two opponents. Klar had eschewed his shield for the moment and was using two swords to stab into one of his opponents, then literally scissor him in half.

She could hear feeble screams and pleas and turned to look. One of the men she had staked was feebly pulling at the stake, trying to free himself. She ignored it, letting him die as painfully as possible, debating attacking the man, though unsure. He emanated power, even that far away. After a moment, she decided to summon a beetle and commanded it to follow the man. He was running off.

She waded into the fight with the last few, casting a spell sending sharpened bamboo poles up out of the ground, Klar's favorite spell; Glass Bamboo Forest. The poles ripped through the enemies as Klar dug his fingers into the eyes of his last opponent, giggling hysterically.

The magical fires began to die out and she cast a white-light spell, waiting for Klar to transition out of his battle lust. Soon he was calm and they began looting the bodies as they discussed what had happened then she told him about the beetle.

“Good. Hopefully it'll lead us back to their master. Ride back to the city and ask if they have a cart for sale.”

He wasn't sure why but the cart idea appeared in his mind and seemed necessary. As she rode off, he carted the bodies to a central pile and dumped them on top of each other, checking them all for loot one last time then casting a conflagration spell on the corpse pile. As they burned down to ashes and bones, he ignored the sweet scent of burning flesh as he cast a water spell on himself, washing off the blood then sat cleaning his retrieved weapons and the enemy weapons. They would be sold when they got home.

He had just finished cleaning the weapons when she reappeared, the magical 'horses' leading the wagon. He began tossing the weapons aboard as Valla tossed the looted bits and pieces, mostly belt buckles and dagger sheaths or the few spell scrolls that weren't burnt up.

Two days later, the beetle reappeared and they took to the plains to follow it, occasionally picking up the trail of the lone Cultist that had escaped. -to be continued-