FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 20

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We made good time back towards town. Jovani and I did what we could to help the injured stallion. He had some nasty looking cuts and bruises, which were bleeding heavily, his chestnut brown fur was stain red from all the blood he had lost. But these in themselves were not life threatening, not unless they got infected. The biggest danger to his life was the injuries we could not see.

He was completely unconscious, despite his grunts and groans of pain each time the wagon hit a bump, of which there were many at the pace Arman was pushing the dando pulling it, his eyes never opened. Jovani tried to give him some water, difficult with the constant motion from the wagon.

There was a great commotion when they found out we had found someone alive. The warriors at the gates gathered round and quickly carried the stallion off to where ever he could receive the care that might be able to save his life. Everyone prayed that they would recover, but it was a slim chance at best. They had taken quite a beating.

The families and friends of the other members of the hunting party who hadn't been so fortunate were carried to their homes, where their families would given the chance to grieve over their loved ones, before they would be taken to the pyres. Traditionally funerals were held at sundown, a few hours from now.

I returned to my aunts house, where I was given a bowl of water and a rag to clean myself. The female cheetah who served my aunt brought it to me. I had declined her offer to help me wash myself, or for her to prepare a bath for me. I would bathe later, right now this bowl of water was enough.

"You did a wonderful thing." My aunt said as she entered the room.

"How is the stallion?"

"He might pull through." She said solemnly, obviously she doubted that he would given her tone. "The doctor says it is in the paws of the deities now."

Paws of the deities. What crap. Deities were powerful beings, but they weren't omnipotent, and they certainly didn't go out of their way to save the lives of mortal furs! Only when given the proper offerings would a deity even try and help a dying mortal. The Guardian Deities were a little different, they were sworn to protect the mortal realm from harm; it was the very reason they had been created by their father Asurmen. The most powerful Deity of them all. Other deities were not so... generous or noble about the actions they took.

"And what deities are they praying to for aide?" I asked curiously.

"Marabusa." My Aunt replied. "She is a spirit of the earth from what I hear. The doctor is no shaman, but he has an alter dedicated to her. He often prays to Marabusa. The town was hit by a serious illness and it was he who helped us survive. If it wasn't for him most of the town would have been wiped out."

There were countless deities, many whose names have been forgotten to the sands of time and others who were lesser known. Marabusa was neither of those. Even as far North as Rovarian village I had heard of her. A powerful serpent whose venom could strike a fur down in an instant if angered, or could cure a fur of all illness. Legends say that she once partnered with a powerful shaman during the demon wars millennia ago. Her venom was given to warriors before battle, giving them incredible strength, but which came at a serious cost. There were countless stories like that. How many of them were true and how many were pure fiction was hard to discern.

"You look like you're in pain. Are you okay?" She asked. Her concern was genuine and the softness in her eyes reminded me of my mother for a brief moment.

"I'll be okay." I smiled to reassure her. "Just some bruised ribs. I'll be healed by morning."

"Bruised ribs do not just heal overnight!" She snapped. Her tone taking a sharp edge to it. "Now come with me to the doctor!"

"I'm fine!" I assured her, pulling my arm from her grasp. "I heal faster than the average fur." I was using a technique I had learned in Aaru where I used my nen to speed up healing. It worked best when focused on a single spot, like my ribs. For wide spread healing it took significantly longer. "And besides, the doctor is better off praying to the deity to save that stallions life."

"You truly are Kaldor's son." She smirked.

"What you mean? Handsome? Courageous?" I joked.

"Yes, but also stubborn, reckless and incredibly vain!" She laughed.

"Lady Mai!" A voice shouted from the hallway. We both stepped out of the room to see what the commotion was. A fox clad in leather armour stood in the doorway. He bowed his head respectfully upon seeing us. "I apologise for the intrusion. There is a diplomat from the Gensum Knights approaching."

"Fantastic!" She said sarcastically. "Thank you Malcolm. I shall be there presently." The fox nodded and left.

"Gensum Knights?" I asked.

"Oh they are a group of furs who hold a great deal of influence in the capital. Not to mention the ones from whom we lease the land we live on."

"I thought you had bought the land?" I asked.

"We have, technically. But until the final payment is made they have the right to take the land back from us." Mai explained. "I suspect that one of Lords from the city has been trying to get them to do just that so that they can purchase the land from them instead."

"Why would they do that?" I asked.

"Because many of the Lords don't like the fact that I, a female, am in charge." She snorted. "Such backwards thinking! If they have managed to succeed in convincing the Knights to renege on our agreement... I don't know what we'll do!"

"But the town is already here."

"And the Lord will buy the town along with the land." She growled. "The town would be theirs to do with as they please! They could kick us off the land. Rule over the town and the furs living here as they see fit! As much as they would love to see me removed as the leader of this town, they also want control over the mine."

The mine was the towns main source of income. The Zangarians that moved down here, many of them experienced miners, identified an area rich with valuable minerals. It had been a huge gamble risking their future on the possibility of a potential mine site. But it had paid off. The town had thrived. It may not have been as successful as New Zangar was, but there was no denying their success here.

"So if the Knights are here to reclaim the town how can you stop them?" I asked.

"They are obligated to give us a chance to finish paying off our debt. It's written into the contract." She sighed. "But we don't have that amount of coin. Even if we scraped together all the profits we have managed to pull from the mine over the last ten years, we would still come up short."

"I assume the Gensum Knights are a military organisation?" I asked.

"Yes. They own huge amounts of lands, but they are first and foremost a military organisation. One loyal to the Royal family."

"Then I might have something to offer them in trade." I smirked.

************

"Lady Anaris, it is a pleasure to meet you once again." The Gensum Knight representative smiled politely and bowed as my Aunt and I approached.

He was a lion, clad in a suit of high quality armour with a white tabbard hanging over it, bearing the symbol of their order; a hammer being grasped by a paw. He stood proudly, dignified. He was definitely a noble if ever I saw one. He was escorted by a unit of twelve other similarly armoured knights of various species.

"Sir Marc." My aunt smiled sweetly at him and offer her paw. He took it and kissed her paw in polite ceremony. "I was not expecting a visit from you. To what do I owe the honour?"

"Is laying eyes upon your beauty not reason enough?" He smiled. My aunt acted bashfully to his words.

"Always such a charmer! But I am not that naive."

"Smart as well as beautiful." He smiled. "Was there an incident? I noticed the burnt ground just beyond the wall. Were you attacked?"

"We had an incident with some wildlife." My aunt said. "A graug attacked one of our hunting parties."

"That is most unfortunate news. Upon my return to the capital I shall arrange a hunting party to hunt down the graug for you. They are far too dangerous to be left alone!"

"That won't be necessary. We have already dealt with the graug." My aunt assured him.

"Impressive! Hunting a graug is no mean feat. Did you suffer many losses?"

"Three of our hunters died in the initial attack. Another is critically wounded. We are praying he recovers."

"I shall say a prayer for him as well." The loin said politely. "A sad day indeed when you must bury friends and family. But and impressive feat, killing a graug and only losing three hunters."

"Sad indeed." My aunt frowned. "If you would get to the point of your visit I would appreciate it. We will be lighting the pyres in a few hours."

"My apologies. I am here in accordance of our contract. It pains me to do this, but we must insist that you pay off half of the remaining sum or we will be forced to reclaim this land from you."

"I must say I am disappointed." My aunt said with a more serious tone. "To think that the honourable Knights of Gensum were giving way under political pressure."

"Lady Anaris..."

"You can shove your apologies!" She snorted. "You know damn well we cannot pay that amount, even if you gave us a year to do so!"

"That is most unfortunate news." The loin frowned. "And I must say I do not appreciate your tone!"

"And I don't appreciate yours!" I said.

"And you are?"

"My nephew, visiting from Zangar." My aunt introduced me. "Malakye Anaris. He was the one who dealt with the graug."

"A pleasure to meet you." The lion bowed his head. "So you had the honour of landing the killing blow on the graug."

"You misunderstand Sir Marc." My aunt interjected. "Malakye did not just land the killing blow. He fought the beast alone, and drove it away from the town before hunting it down and finishing it off."

"You... can't be serious." The lion snorted. "No single fur can take on a graug alone! It would take at least two dozen knights to do that!"

"But I did." I glared.

"Malakye is... special." My aunt said.

"It's a long story." I added.

"A story I would most like to hear! But since you are preoccupied with dealing with your dead I shall take my leave. I will still give you till the end of the season to attempt to come up with the coin required, otherwise..." He trailed off, he didn't need to finish. We knew what would happen.

"I've got something better than coin to offer!" I declared.

"Is that so? And what is that you might have to offer that would cover such a substantial amount of coin?" He asked with a smile. He obviously thought I was lying.

"How about an unhatched graug egg?"

That seemed to catch his attention. Graugs were notoriously dangerous. Wild graugs were far too dangerous to be left roaming around. Domesticated graugs were another story however. They made extremely effective war-beasts. A single graug egg would be worth a sizeable fortune to the right buyer.

"A graug egg would be worth a sizeable amount." The lion admitted. "Enough to pay off the majority of the required debt for sure. I would need to discuss this with my superiors however."

"Then please do discuss it with them!" My aunt smiled. "But do be quick about it. I imagine that you would want the egg before it hatches."

"You are quite correct. It will take me four days to return to the capital. I imagine I will be back within ten days."

"Then I have another offer for you to pass by your superiors." I said. "I imagine that graug eggs are rare enough to be worth such a fortune. Your order would earn the the kings attention, knowing you had such a beast to aid with the war with Gir."

"Quite so." The loin nodded but his tone was guarded, he was being cautious about he said leading up to my offer.

"Then I suggest you find out just how much three graug eggs would be worth to the war effort!"

"Three eggs? You 'have' three eggs?" He asked, trying to conceal his excitement.

"Because I would imagine that three eggs would be enough to wipe out the entirety of the debt owed between my aunt and your organisation!" I smirked.

"Malakye!" My aunt scolded me.

We had not discussed this art of the negotiation before coming here. No doubt she thought I was pushing too hard. I didn't expect the lion to accept such a deal, but he was not going to walk away from three graug eggs just because I pushed too hard. He would attempt to negotiate. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

"I assure you, as valuable as a graug egg may be, three of them are not sufficient to wipe off the entire debt!" The lion countered. "I assure you, I will find out just what they are worth to my superiors. And I will ensure you get the best possible price for them, I swear that on my honour."

"We will trust you at your word." My aunt added hastily. Obviously not wanting me to say anything that might jeopardise the deal which would save this town.

"I will trust you." I said. "But I have one stipulation. And this is not negotiable!"

"Malakye, that is enough!" My aunt hissed.

"What is your stipulation?" The lion asked.

"That when you return for the eggs, you will have a signed contract from your superiors, stating the exact value the eggs have removed from the debt..."

"Of course!" The lion interrupted. "That goes without sa..."

"AND..." I continued, speaking over him as he did me. "You will write into that contract that you will never again attempt to reclaim this land using this clause ever again!"

"That..."

"And if that clause is not included in the contract..." I continued, not allowing him to speak. "Then I will ensure that you will not receive any of the graug eggs! I will keep them myself... I will sell them to someone willing to pay significantly more than you!" I laughed for effect. "Hell... I'd rather smash them to pieces!"

"Malakye what are you..."

I raised a paw to silence my aunt.

"The eggs are mine!" I glared at the lion. "Not my aunts, not this towns and definitely not yours! You either agree to the terms or you will never even lay eyes on those eggs! Are we clear?"

"Crystal." The lion seemed less than amused but he didn't seem angry. He was probably noble born, but as a knight he would be used to dealing with less than savoury individuals.

"Excellent." I grinned, losing any tension and serious from my voice and body language. "Then why don't we seal the agreement with a drink?"

The sharing of a drink over an agreement, an ancient and well recognised, if not widely practised, tradition. We would share a drink, break bread and part as friends. Or at least that was the theory.

"I would love too." The lion smiled.

It was a forced smile. One of politeness. But he wanted those eggs badly enough to grin and share a drink with me. We headed back towards my aunts house, where she would host us and provide the drinks. She was pissed off with me, I could tell from her shoulders as she walked. She was holding back her anger until we were alone. Just before we arrived at her house a distraught young stallion came running up to us. He was in tears. I doubt he was more than ten winters old. My aunt ran to him and hugged him.

"What has happened?" She asked him.

"My... m-my..." He sniffled.

"Take a deep breath." She cooed softly.

"M-my mother w-w-ants you to c-come!" He sniffled. "P-apa is not doing so well!"

I realised then that he must be the son of the chestnut stallion we found in the forest. It looked like the doctor, and the deity he prays too, was not going to be able to save the stallion.

"I'll come. Lets go." My aunt said to him, taking the young stallion by the paw and jogging towards the doctors place. I followed, the lion following me. We would settle our agreement later. This was more important.

There was a crowd of furs outside. They allowed my aunt passage through. The lion and I followed in her wake. Inside was just as crowded. Everyone was here to offer their support to the family. To say their goodbyes to their friend, comrade and neighbour. The stallion was obvious well liked by this community.

The stallion was laid out on a table. His chest rising and falling rapidly. He was in some serious pain. The scent of the medicinal herbs overwhelmed my sense of smell, but they were still not enough to completely cover the scent of blood from the stallions wounds. In the corner of the room there was a shrine to the deity Marabusa. Candles burned, along with incense on the shrine. I could sense the presence of the deity. They were in the room.

It was a strange sensation. You know that feeling when it feels like someone is watching you? Its just like that only slightly different. You can't see the deities when they are in spiritual form. Taking on a physical form takes a lot of effort for them. They move through the world like the wind. Only those with shaman training can contact them while they are in spirit form.

"You...." A rasped whisper echoed around me. "Come...."

No one else seemed to hear it. Because they couldn't. Their senses were not trained to be able to hear spirits. I closed my eyes and entered a light trance. As I entered the trance the world around me became hazy, but everyone in the room was still moving about. Their voices were now faint echoes around me. Their words were distorted, I could hear them if I concentrated. From across the room, next to the alter, I saw her. Marabusa. She was in the form of a naga. The legless body of serpent, coiled beneath her, where her legs should have been. She was naked. Her bare breasts heaved heavily as she hissed.

"You. Can. Sssssave. Him!" She hissed.

I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to act as a vessel for her. As a shaman that was what I was able to do. But allowing her to use me posed a great risk. In order to allow her to use my body as a vessel I had to lower my defences to allow her power to flow through me. The same defences that held the spirit within me at bay.

"Why would I let you use me?" I asked.

"You. Would. Allow. Him. To. Die?" She asked.

"Why do you need me?"

"No. Time." She said. I knew what she meant. She could save him if she could take physical form, which is what she intended. But doing so herself would take too long and the stallion would die. By using me she could use my body to quickly take a temporary physical form. "What. Will. You. Do?"

I looked from her down at the stallion on the table. His family crying at his bedside. My aunt was speaking to me. Her words were distorted, I couldn't her what she was saying. If I did this it would pose a risk to everyone in this room. The question was... could I hold the spirit at bay once I lowered my barriers that would allow Marabusa to enter my body.

"Do it." I said, lowering my mental barriers.

She wasted no time in entering my body. Her power surged through me. She was not that strong, but what power she did have was potent. I could feel the spirit attempting to overwhelm my mind, his power pushing against my own. I exited the trance and blinked several times in order to let my vision focus.

"Malakye... are you alright?" My aunt asked. "What's happened to your eyes!?"

Several furs were looking at me oddly. But I didn't have time to waste explaining. I would not be able to hold the spirit back for long. Marabusa was helping to some degree but most of her power and attention was focused on the task of saving the stallion. Once she left my body I would be on my own. I would need to raise my mental barriers again before the spirit was able to overwhelm me completely.

I pushed the doctor and several other furs aside in order to get close enough to the stallion. I could feel Marabusa take physical form within me. I leant over the stallion and opened my maw. I began to choke. I gagged as I felt something push its way up my throat.

"MALAKYE!" I felt my aunt grab me. "What the...!?!"

She and several other furs shrieked and backed away as a snake slivered out of my maw. The snake hissed and then sank its fangs into the stallions neck. A couple of males grabbed me and pulled me away from the stallion. The snake retreated back into my maw and slid back down my throat.

'It. Is. Done.' I heard within my mind.

Several other furs helped to restrain me. That was probably a good thing. I felt her power slip away as she left my body. Suddenly I realised just how much she had been helping to hold back the spirit within me. His pure power flowed through my like fire. I heard myself yell in pain as I tried to raise the barriers to hold back his nen. With his power surging through me like this he was able to launch a full scale assault against my mental barriers.

I thrashed about in pain, the two warriors that had grabbed me struggled to keep a hold of me. Several others came to their aid. I was not actively fighting against them, I was trying not to hurt them, but the pain I was in made my body jerk by reflex.

Little by little I raised the barriers which held his power in check. My entire body was in searing agony, but I didn't have time to focus on the pain. It was now a battle of wills! If I was distracted for even a moment it could spell my defeat! It was a race to see if I could raise the barriers which held his power back like a dam would to water, or if he could tear down the walls I had built to protect my psyche!

Time was lost to me. What felt like minutes could have been mere seconds. Hours could have been minutes! Eventually I managed to raise my barriers, preventing anymore of his power from flooding my body, I had sealed the source but I still had an excessive amount of it coursing through my body already! I needed to expel it! When I drew on the power during battle I would expel it that way, but there was just too much now and not enough time to dispel it in such a way!

He was still attacking my mind, but the assault was nothing in comparison to before now that I had raised my barriers. Once I dispelled the excess energy from my body he would no longer be able to maintain his assault. I gathered his nen into my chest, making it as dense as possible. This was a difficult but essential technique for shamans, which allowed them quickly dispel harmful energies from their bodies. Once I had gathered nearly all of his energy in my lungs I forced it up my throat and out of my muzzle, expelling it into the very air itself!

As I did this I became more aware of my surroundings. The doctors place was a mess. Several furs lay sprawled out on the ground around me, six more were still holding me. A red mist poured out of my maw and quickly evaporated as it was absorbed into the air, the rock and even the wood this building was made from.

"You're a shaman aren't you!?" An elderly otter asked. I quickly identified him as the doctor who had been treating the stallions wounds.

"Yes!" I said with a grunt as I struggled against the six furs trying to push me to the ground. "I'm fine now! Let me go!"

"LET HIM GO YOU FOOLS!" The doctor yelled. "Is that anyway to treat the drake who saved the stallions life!?"

"Saved him?" One of the warriors, a bull, asked.

"He channelled Marabusa! Look! His wounds are already healing!" The doctor pointed out to them.

It was at this point I felt their hold on my loosen, and when the stallion grunted and his eyes flickered open. The stallions family began to cry tears of joy as they embraced the dazed stallion. When they witnessed the recovery of the stallion they let me go completely and some of them said a quick apology before backing away.

With the tension in the room finally gone, and my battle with the spirit over for the time being I collapsed to my knees exhausted. Expelling the spirits power like that required me to use a lot of my own nen to complete the task. I would be all right after a short rest.

"You are amazing!" The doctor grinned as he knelt down to examine me. "I did not know we had a shaman in town! I always wanted to learn the craft but never had the talent for it!"

"Are you all right Malakye?" My aunt asked concerned.

"I'm fine." I croaked, my throat a little hoarse.

My body had some mild nen burn, which included the back of my throat. If I hadn't expelled the energy as quickly as I had it would have been much worse. The tingling would pass after a couple of hours, longer if I used my nen before my body had a chance to heal.

"When you said that your nephew was special... lets just say I hadn't quite expected this." The lSir Marc said to my aunt as he approached. "Quite a spectacle. Is that red mist a usual part of the process?"

"It is a way to expel harmful energies from spirits." I explained.

"I see. But I must confess to being dumbstruck when I saw that serpent emerge from your muzzle!"

"I think everyone was." My aunt commented. "But I must insist that any further discussion about shaman, and your questions about them, be restricted to a more private setting!" My aunt whispered to him.

"O-of course. I beg your pardon." He bowed his head in apology to me.

He didn't have anything to apologise for. I had to give him credit for taking my aunts request without asking why. The sign of someone used to dealing with complex politics. Or of someone who was over trusting, but I didn't get that sense from him. He was smart.

"There is nothing to forgive." I muttered as I ignored the doctors poking and prodding as he examined me and stood up. "I don't know about you but I could really do with that drink now."

I wanted to finish sealing our arrangement, but also, I really needed a drink! Before I could take a step towards the door the wife of the stallion, who Marabusa had saved, came running up to me.

"Thank the deities you were here!" The fur around her eyes were matted with her tears, but right now they were tears of joy. "Praise be to Marabusa!"

"Aye..." I muttered, "Praise Marabusa." I said less than enthusiastically, but she was so over joyed right now I don't think she noticed. "You should go and see to your mate."

"Of course!" She nodded. "I owe you everything! Thank you!" She said before hurrying back to the stallions beside. He looked quite dazed, likely a side effect of Marabusa's venom. But that was certainly better than the alternative.

"Come on you two!" My aunt smiled. "Lets get those drinks! I could use one myself!"

************

After several drinks of my aunts strongest spirit the Gensum knight, Sir Marc, and I were starting to get a little tipsy. The spirit was smoky and sweet on the tongue and burn the back of my throat when I swallowed it.

"Now that we are the privacy of Lady Mai's residence, perhaps you'd be willing to answer a few of questions?"

"I suppose I could." I said. It was then that it occurred to me that Sir Marc, a knight of a large organisation, would likely know many things about this region. Perhaps he would be able to point me the direction of where the curi'nakra may have gone. "But only if you answer some of my own questions in return."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me." He smiled. "So my first question is where you were trained as a shaman? Shaman are rare enough, but we know nothing about how they are trained."

"I can't comment on how other shaman are trained, but I was trained in Aaru."

"Aaru? As in the realm of the Guardian Deities?"

"That's the one." I nodded as I tossed back another drink.

"Well now, I think you might be more interesting than I had given you credit for!" He grinned before tossing back another drink himself.

One thing I needed to make sure of was not to mention that wolves had as many k'tan amongst their ranks as Zangarians did. Probably more given the wolves larger population. Sir Marc here may seem honourable enough, but his loyalty was to his order, and through that order the Royal family which ruled Marijakil.

Technically the royal family ruled over all of the tribal lands, but for decades now they had very little influence in the areas North of the Dark Forest. The forest provided a natural barrier which meant that going around it added entire weeks to a journey. That was part of the reason the war, between the wolves and the dragons, had been allowed rage so frequently through the centuries.

Their lack of influence was not helped by the fact that the capital was constantly at war with a small neighbouring country; The Land of Gir. Their war was was as well known up North, as the war between wolves and dragons was to the South. This current King was making great efforts to grow his army, and I had no doubt the prospect of an army filled with shamans would excite him should he learn of the wolves latent abilities. But making them aware of that would serve only to endanger the wolves, and the other furs around them until they would be able train them all effectively in the shaman arts.

This was understood by all previous wolven k'tan trained in Aaru. It was the reason the Zaraki Kamir, nor any of the other wolven k'tan before him, had shared the secret. It would spell potential doom for the wolves, and likely the rest of the Tribal Lands as well.

"So why were you taken to Aaru to be trained as a shaman?" He asked, obviously intrigued.

"All wolven k'tan are taken to Aaru when their powers are awoken." I said. "That is a well known fact."

"I see... so you are a wolven k'tan."

"I am wolven and Zangarian k'tan; both." I clarified.

"You have the power of two k'tan lineages!? Now that is most impressive! I have never heard of such a thing. Suddenly your ability to take down a graug by yourself seems more reasonable." He smiled. "I have seen the power a regular k'tan can wield. It is truly awe inspiring and terrifying sight to behold. To think that a single fur hss such destructive capabilities!"

"K'tan are weapons." I said bluntly. "Forged for a war now past, but one which threatens to return at any moment! It is that very reason I am here."

"Oh?" He hummed curiously as he poured himself another drink. "I didn't think you were here for as simple a reason as just visiting your dear aunt."

"I am hunting a fur. A curi'nakra."

"A curi'nakra!?" He went wide eyed. "I hope you are not being serious! If there is a curi'nakra then that is extremely concerning." He grumbled incoherently to himself and looked extremely concerned.

"I am being serious. We lost their trail in the Dark Forest. We believe they came South but we don't know where they could have gone after that. I don't know what they are planning to do. I know very little about this land."

"Perhaps..." He began and then trailed off. "Perhaps the ritual at Lutier Temple?"

"A temple?"

"We refer to it a Lutier Temple," He said. Moonlight Temple is what it translated to from old tongue. "But it's full name is Quin'yolar Ja'lutier temple."

"Five moons barrier temple?" I said. It lost something in the translation but that was essentially what the name meant, either that or Sir Marc was not pronouncing it right, but that wasn't what was important right now. "What ritual?" I asked eagerly.

"You know old tongue. That aid you should you visit the capital." He nodded. "More to the point, there is a ritual that take place every twenty cycles." He explained. "There is supposedly a Greater Demon sealed within the grounds the temple is built upon. It was sealed there during the Demon War over two millennia ago."

"Supposedly?" I queried his words. If there was a Greater Demon then that was a serious issue! Greater Demons had the power to open portals to the Underworld! If the curi'nakra had come down this way in order to disrupt the ritual...

"I do not know how true it is. But there are stories about times when the demon broke free before the seal could be renewed. The last time was apparently sixty cycles ago. Most of the priests within the temple died before they were able to finally seal the demon once again." He explained. "Ever since then the Royal family always provide a contingent of warriors to avoid a repeat of the disaster."

"Where is this temple, and when is the ritual to take place?" I asked.

"The Temple is about seventy miles South East of here, built atop a cliff along the edge of the river." He said pausing a moment to think. "I believe the ritual is due to take place tomorrow evening at sundown."

"Seventy miles..." I said.

"A full days ride if you pushed your mounts hard. If you left first thing in the morning you would make it." Sir Marc clarified. "But there is no guarantee that the curi'nakra will be there. And even if they did there are a large number of skilled soldiers, including several k'tan, to ensure everything goes according to plan."

"I can make it in about four hours." I said. "Time is not what I'm concerned about. It's the others will want to come with me and slow me down."

"Four hours?! How do you propose to travel that distance in four hours!?"

"I'm a wind bender." Said bluntly, and flicked my wings, using a small amount of nen to create a noticeable gust in the room. "Using my bending, I can fly."

"A most useful talent." He grinned. "If you are set on going I shall write a letter for you to present the commander there. Most likely they will be a paladin, an officer of the Tyrok Minotaurs. I have no authority to allow you entry, but our order is well known, and has a great deal of influence. It will at least garner his attenshion to hear you out."

"I appreciate that." I nodded. Noticing he was starting to slur his words.

"Itsh the leasht I can do. Even the proshpect of a curi'nakra roaming the landsh is a truly horrifying proshpect. I've read pasht accounts of what a shingle curi'nakra is capable of, Documented eventsh the order has recorded in itsh library." He stared at his glass solemnly as if living those accounts for himself. "We cannot allow shuch things to happen again!"

"Are you two still drinking?" My aunt asked as she entered the room. "The funeral service will be starting shortly. Malakye I think you should attend."

I didn't mind attending of course, and if she wanted me there I would be. But before I could say anything Sir Marc spoke.

"My good Lady, I would appreciate it if you could provide me some parshment, a quill and shome ink." He slurred as he rose from his chair.

His words were becoming badly slurred now. I stared at my glass and pushed it away. This spirit was more potent than I had initially thought. And I couldn't afford to get drunk.

"Sir Marc... you appear to be slightly tipsy. Perhaps you should stay the night?"

"No time my Lady!" Sir Marc exclaimed. "I must depart with all poshible hashte! I must alert the capital to the potenshal threat of the curi'nakra that your nephew hunts! And I must also hurry and return to claim the eggs in good time."

"You have not forgotten the terms of our deal?" I asked.

"I am a fur of honour!" He insisted. "I shall enshure that your terms are agreed to before we return to reclaim the eggs! But firsht I musht write you a formal introduction! The sholjers will not allow anyone to get close to the temple without proper cru- crudenshials!"

After writing the letter and sealing it with wax, embedded the mark of the order of Gensum Knights, Sir Marc and his fellow knights departed the town an hour before the funeral would begin. First thing tomorrow I would depart myself and head for the temple. I would head South and find the river Sir Marc spoke of and use it to navigate my way to the temple which was apparently build alongside it.

Tonight though I had a funeral to attend. I didn't know these furs, but it was only right I go and pay my respects to fellow warriors. To give my condolences to their families. After that I would have to face the others and tell them of my plans to leave them behind as I go to the temple. That was going to be a difficult conversation indeed.