[se] but we do not carve gently

The southeastern bank loomed nearer, and it was all that Alys could do to avoid rolling her eyes. Of course Belial would lead them right into the area they'd been told to avoid, and of course Deimos would approach without question. But she could hardly blame him - he was, after all, the strongest of them all, the most capable of protecting his people. And if there was someone in need, she equally knew that he would never leave them to fend for themselves. So the seer pressed her lips into a thin line and rode on in silence, dark eyes watchful on the banks of the lake they found themselves on.

When they spotted another person clinging to some jagged rocks on the shore, Alys clenched her teeth to keep from shouting a greeting. If there were creatures on the bank, she'd as soon avoid their notice, thank you very much. So instead, she carefully balanced herself upon Deimos's back and waved a hand toward the person, attempting to convey silently that the approaching bakunawa was not a threat. Hopefully they would be able to fetch the survivor and make their way back across the water with as little fanfare as possible.

ALYS GLASSE

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

They were all silent as they lingered through the water; his senses heightened, resolutely on alert. The tracker clinging to the embankment seemed to much of the same mind, beckoning with one hand and no voice. They labored onward, and as they approached, Deimos figured Alys had enough room and movement, with the other hunter, to grab the individual. So he took the opportunity, his eyes narrowing, to peek over the bank…

The warning hadn’t prepared him for such a sight. It was as though an ursur had been tainted, the icy, glacial hues of its fur corrupted into shadowed, Stygian outsets, tusks given tendril expanse rather than hard lines, and the gaze now upon him void of anything.

They stared at each other for a few moments, before the bear began running towards them. The Sword loosened a damning roar, a hint, a threat, blades of teeth and might exposed as hackles raised and long, serpentine body stretched, leaving Alys and company with the ability to snag and take while he occupied the demonic creature.

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same

They had no sooner helped the tracker onto Deimos's back than the bakunawa loosed a roar that shook Alys to her core; her eyes snapped up, then around, searching for the reason for such a noise, equal parts warning and promise. When she caught sight of the ursur, her breath caught in her throat, her heart quickened its beating - for it was not the fierce, pale brethren of her bonded that she saw, but a shadowed, angry version that turned her blood to ice. It stared at them for a moment with a blank sort of glare, then began to run - towards them, unfortunately, which, to Alys's thinking, left them all in a bit of a bind.

Deimos, she was sure, was more than a match for the creature that charged towards them, but in this instance, he had three other people to protect from the creature's wrath. She, at least, would not be the reason that he lost his focus, not when she could at least attempt to offer some manner of protection for their little group. The seer pulled the bow from her back and nocked an arrow, sighting for the demon-ursur's eye, then loosed her shot.

ALYS GLASSE

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

The Sword had been hoping for the Seer to snag the tracker, and they could simply leave, head back, and return at a later juncture with either a hunting party, or full-fledged vehemence. He couldn’t unfurl and unleash quite in the way he might’ve yearned – a twisting wake of violence and nefariousness to seethe and siege – not with all of them there. But as her arrow flew, and predacious efforts ran high, he knew he’d have to put a stop to all of it, and swiftly.

The man clinging to the bank waved again, extending out an arm towards the other hunter and Alys, still careful not to make a sound, but it may not have mattered. The arrow had done its job, swiftly spurned directly into the beast’s eye, but it still came charging, merciless and deadly. As if it were completely unbothered, or simply unaware. Maybe it was running strictly on fumes and aggression, and would eventually fall.

But the Warden wasn’t about to wait that long. Deimos reached and reached, the massive portions of his body still uncoiling in long, serpentine proportions, until he could simply lunge, teeth extended, over the ramparts, embankments, and snow, snagging at the feet of the bear. It roared and bellowed, own jaw parting to impart some manner of brutality, but within a moment the bakunawa threw the beast sideways.

It landed, precariously, over another mound of snow with a bone-sickening crunch.

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same

Alys was many things, but mind-reader, she was not. Her efforts to protect the hunter and tracker were perhaps misplaced, but she couldn't help the smug satisfaction that blossomed in her chest as her arrow struck true, boring through the ursur's eye with a vengeance. The feeling faltered, however, when the beast didn't so much as twitch, charging at them as though its sole purpose in life was to end their existence.

Clearly, it was unaware of whom it was up against, for Deimos was not one to sit idly by and watch his people sit in harm's way. Indeed, Alys could feel the muscles beneath her roil as the bakunawa stretched and uncoiled, and she gripped tightly as he lunged for the void beast. It happened so fast that the seer hardly realized what had happened before the massive creature had been thrown across the snow to land with a sickening crunch. She was suddenly aware of just how little damage she was capable of doing, and she shivered as she slung her bow back over her shoulder. Clearly she should leave the ursur to Deimos and focus on helping the tracker.

So she turned to the man clinging to the bank and stretched out an arm, hoping to snag him and pull him aboard so that they could leave.

ALYS GLASSE

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

The Sword’s gaze traveled rapidly, and back and forth, from the tracker and the ursur. The former moved rapidly towards Alys, an apology and gratitude on their lips, while the latter was still. But Deimos wasn’t going to wait around to see if it had been felled or simply stunned; whatever bones that had been mauled had done enough damage for the time being. Ordinarily, he might’ve lingered to cut apart meat, to leave nothing to waste, but the way that damned bear existed – it gave him thought to leave it all behind.

Besides, he likely had two wounded, one dead, and Alys on his back; enough of a maelstrom to warrant turning around. If anything, it was more information to share, and dread over, in the coming days.

So once the other was snagged, he swiftly altered course, Belial high above and Zuriel’s call clambering somewhere in the distance. He followed all the traces, from peryton to unicorn to the dark spires of the Citadel overhead, the consternation welled and pooling every line and every scale.

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same

Alys wondered if the hunter and the tracker knew how fortunate they were, to have someone like Deimos upon whom to rely. The Warden was steadfast, strong, unyielding in his endless quest to protect his people, and this was perhaps the clearest example of such traits. For where Deimos might have been a hunter himself, might have ensured the ursur's demise and stripped it of fur and meat and all manner of things, in this moment, he was a protector, and as soon as the tracker was safely aboard his back, the Sword swiftly departed the shore.

As they cut through the water, the tracker settling in on the bakunawa's scales, Alys looked over her shoulder at the motionless ursur, wondering if this was simply the vanguard to a new invasion of infested fauna who might threaten those she held dear and their way of life. The seer had rather had enough of the void creatures she had run across last season, and if such darkness was spreading through Caido...

She suppressed a shiver, biting her lip. Then, remembering herself, she turned her attention to the hunter and tracker. "Are either of you injured?" she asked suddenly, trying to offer a gentle and soothing tone. She was still getting used to having healing magic, and it had slipped her mind to offer until now.

ALYS GLASSE

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

His soul was a mixture of apprehension and ire; could feel the latter quelling and fuming beneath all the trauma and grief of the past few days and hours. Because for all they’d done and accomplished, it still hadn’t been enough, and there were probably more victims out there that they wouldn’t see until it was too late, nor any idea of how to combat crashing isles and devastating moons –

He choked and smothered it all down into a nonchalant veneer, but only because he was shifted. Had he been in human form, it would’ve been all clenched jaws and taut, tightened figures, a furrowed brow penning letters and beckoning others to safety again and again.

So instead, perhaps out of spite, he ignored the violet streaks in the sky and focused entirely on the spires in the distance, courting them onward and home. The other passengers had gone relatively silent, he presumed either out of fear or clutching on for dear life, the initial hunter nodding towards Alys but offering nothing else. The tracker gave a soft murmur. ”Yes ma’am, but it can wait until we get to shore.” Not daring or risking one wrong slip and they’d been in the cold encompassed lake again.

But the Sword didn’t take long, and using speed and strength, curled and coiled precisely next to Zuriel, his sled and bag, and Belial’s trumpeting hoots. He stayed, remaining in place, while the others slid off or departed, his eyes glancing to the still form behind him.

Because they too, would need a proper sending off, and the hordes of others doomed to meet the same fate.

{FIN}

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same