FSE

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Soft clouds drifted lazily across the sky, their shadows playfully chasing each other through the grassland below. The light of the first sun splashed brilliant colors across the canvas of fading night.

The young druid's eyes saw none of the morning's splendor that took place in front of her open gaze, too blinded by thoughts of the one she had left behind. "I wonder how Nadirah's doing right now." She whispered to the empty air. "I really shouldn't have just abandoned her like that. I'm sure she'll be fine once everyone gets to know her a little more but... I suppose I could have waited a few more days to leave. Be a friendly face until she settled in a little more. I could have at least-"

The doe's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the hollow cry of a war horn. Taiyra sat up, turning her head in the direction of the sound and giving a deep sigh.

It had only been three days since she had arrived at the new encampment, but the horn of battle had been sounded frequently in that short time. Rising to her feet, she stepped to the edge of the cliff upon which she had been lying. Without hesitation, she leapt over the edge and began to plummet. The cry of an eagle answered the horn's call.

As she drew closer to the encampment, Taiyra could see a horde of ghouls throwing themselves against the protective wall surrounding its border. Orks, agwa, and even a few humans rained rocks and arrows down at the enemy. The druid gave a loud cry as she swooped overhead, but none of the defenders gave her so much as a glance.

Moments later, she landed in the center of the camp and allowed her avian form to melt away. "Any injured need attending to yet?" She called out to the scurrying figures surrounding her, but she was ignored.

"Fresh meat, coming through!" Someone suddenly called out. The doe's head snapped in the direction of the voice. "Arooooo! Arooooo! Outta the way before it spoils!" An agwa and an ork carried a crude stretcher between them. Another ork lay unconscious on the stretcher between them, his legs twisted in unnatural positions.

Taiyra began to follow them, preparing herself to heal him. "Fool fell off the rampart." The ork holding one end of the stretcher muttered as it was deposited on the ground. "Take your time returning this one to his post." The brun slapped his hand against the agwa's shoulder before hurrying away. The jruu chuckled softly before kneeling down and gently running his hands along the ork's mangled legs.

"First blood." Taiyra said as she stepped up behind the jruu. "He's lucky there's a good healer handy."

The jruu chuckled again without looking at her, straightening one of the broken legs with a hard but calculated jerk. "Well, I'm really not all_that_ good, but he'll walk again just fine in a few days." The bones crackled and snapped as the second leg was straightened. Taiyra opened her mouth to correct him, but decided to hold her tongue. The agwa laid one of his hands on each of the ork's legs and bowed his head, softly muttering something the doe's sensitive ears could not quite make out.

The still unconscious ork stirred but did not open his eyes. After a few seconds, his tight lips relaxed and formed a small smile. His brownish-grey skin began to take on a faint glow that lasted several seconds before fading away. Taiyra renewed her interest in the jruu, shifting her gaze to his glowing hands.

The jruu finally lifted his head as the glow faded away, his mutterings also silenced, then rose slowly to his feet. His eyes ran along the length of the ork's body, inspecting his work. Taiyra glanced at the patient as well.

The skin that had been pierced by bone was once again whole. There was no hint of swelling and the discoloration of bruise looked faded and old rather than freshly injured. Had she not known better, she would think the injured brun were merely resting after a long day. She turned her gaze back to the jruu, her eyes wide with surprise. "How did you do that?"

The agwa looked up at her for the first time and seemed surprised by her presence. "Oh! Greetings. I didn't realize we had any tarins out here." He rose slowly to his feet and gave her a quick look over. "Forgive my distraction. You asked me something?"

"Tarous." Taiyra corrected offhandedly. "And I asked how you did that."

The agwa gave her a perplexed look. "Pardon?"

"Tarous." The druid repeated. "You meant to say you didn't know there were any_tarous_ out here. A tarin is an individual. It's ok, common mistake."

"Um... Yes." The jruu lifted his eyebrows and tilted his gaze over her shoulder. "I will, uh, try to remember that from now on. But if you'll excuse me, I-" He took a step to the side to move around her, but Taiyra shifted to block his path.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a pest, really I don't. I was just really curious." She smiled brightly at him. "But I was still wondering how you did that." Still looking at the jruu, she pointed down at the sleeping ork.

The agwa's face slowly relaxed and a smirk began to creep across his face, the effect exaggerated by the curved tusks growing from the corners of his mouth. "How I did...that?" He echoed her words, his own finger following hers to point at the ork. "You mean fix his legs?" Taiyra nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, that was nothing. Just a little trick I picked up a long time ago." The jruu turned his gaze to his patient, his expression softening. "He's not fully healed, not yet. All I did was ease the pain and speed up his body's own healing process. He's doing all the work. I just... gave him a bit of a nudge, so to speak."

Taiyra tilted her head slightly, making connections behind her observant eyes but not willing to give voice to them. "A nice trick." She said instead, offering her most genuine smile.

"Indeed." He agreed, returning her smile. "So can I do anything else for you? Are you injured?"

Taiyra giggled softly and shook her head. "I'm not hurt, I came because I heard the alarm. I'm a healer as well."

The agwa stiffened briefly as she spoke, immediately attempting to cover his surprise by turning to check on his patient again. "Another healer, huh? Funny, I haven't seen you around before."

"Oh, I've only been here a few days." She replied. "I'm with the Silver Suns. They sent me here because this outpost was under constant attack and could use an extra pair of hands." She glanced back at the sleeping ork as she spoke the last part of her sentence.

The jruu followed her gaze. "Oh, another healer will be more than welcome here. Usually we get hit pretty hard. Wyverns, necros, you name it, all gathering at our door going 'Knock, knock! Let me in!"

The doe grinned slightly at his antics. "And what do we say in return?"

"Well, that depends on who answers." He replied. "If it's an ork, it will be 'Die, ghoul scum!', unless you get a creative one. Then it will be something like 'Have a taste of my blade!" His voice lowered in an attempt to match the gruffness of the orks, his arms swinging an invisible weapon through the air. "Now if it's my turn to answer, I just blow out all the torches and yell 'No one's home! Try again tomorrow!'

His expression suddenly turned serious and he leaned closer, as if to impart some secret knowledge. "They're not very smart." He said in a loud whisper. "They fall for it every time."

Taiyra was startled into laughter.

The jruu smiled, exposing uneven yellow teeth. "Finally. Someone with a sense of humor around here. Most of the time my attempts at humor go unappreciated by these stone-faced warmongers."

"Well, orks are known for a little bit of a blacker humor than I personally prefer." Taiyra said. She smiled again and made an elaborate swirling motion with her hand in greeting. "I'm Taiyra, by the way. Taiyra Sunmourn."

"Tesio." The jruu replied with an extended hand. It hung awkwardly in the air between them as Taiyra tilted her head, confused. "Yeah, well, it's good to meet you Taiyra." Tesio pulled his hand back and scratched at the back of his neck. "So you said you were with the Silver Suns, huh?"

"Tesio." She replied thoughtfully, repeating his name as if deciding whether or not she liked it. "That's an unusual name for an agwa."

"It's actually the least unusual thing about me." Tesio quipped back.

The druid tilted her head slightly, her chin lowering to her chest as a half-smile pulled at one corner of her mouth. "Oh really." Her ears perked forward in interest. "What's the most unusual thing about you then?"

Tesio's eyebrows raised at the teasing purr of her voice. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He replied with a grin. The agwa's long tusks and pointed teeth made the smile appear almost predatory.

Taiyra's smile widened further, her head bowing coyly as she looked up at him through her lashes. "I don't know, I think I might be persuaded to believe you." Her tail curled shyly around her ankles. "You're not the only one who's unusual, you know."

"Well, perhaps we should compare then." Tesio replied with a chuckle. "These little spats never take too long, and no one really seems to need us this time. Maybe we can..." He paused a moment to let his eyes roam meaningfully along the doe's body. "Meet afterwards?"

"Does this place have a tavern?" Taiyra replied.

The campfire's feeble light nibbled at the edge of the darkness, failing to drive back the night. Heavy clouds wove a quilt across the sky, blocking out any celestial illumination. The heavy silence was disturbed only by the crackle of the fire.

The MidKnight stretched out her hands to warm them with what little heat the small fire was willing to shed. When the whisper of rustled cloth suddenly reached Nadirah's ears, it was nearly deafening in the silence. Sweeping up her weapon and spinning around to face the darkness, she narrowed her eyes, seeing only a miscolored shadow of the fire. Her large ears snapped forward, twisting to catch any further noises. A moment later she caught the creak of leather.

"Who's out there?" She called. Her weapon was held at the ready and her tail angrily lashed about her ankles. "Announce yourself." Stillness seemed to claim the night, even the crackle of the fire subdued. Without diverting her attention to the possible threat, the MidKnight kicked a dried disk of kordox manure into the flames, causing them to burst momentarily with the disturbance. The new light exposed several feet of emptiness before fading back again.

"Is that you, druid?" She called out again, head twisting in the direction of another hiss of movement. "None of your tricks, now. Come out here and face me."

The silence developed an air of expectancy. Nadirah's grip tightened and her muscles readied as she heard footsteps approach. Slowly, two figures separated from the darkness and stepped into the dancing shadows. One of the figures was much larger than the other, the smaller of which appeared to be a portly human child. The larger figure was recognizable as a tarin doe, keeping herself between Nadirah and the child.

"I'm sorry if we startled you. We saw your fire and were hoping to share it for a while." The doe said shyly with her head bent in submission. "You see, we were-" A sharp gasp cut off her words. "You're a MidKnight!"

Nadirah's lips pulled tight against her teeth. "Well you're an observant one, aren't you.." She snapped. "Would you also like to tell me that it's dark out here?"

"How did you know who I was, MidKnight?" The doe asked cagily, ignoring the sarcastic remarks. Her back bowed in preparation of flight. "Did you lead them? Have you been following us?" Behind her, the child-sized silhouette mumbled something incomprehensible.

The MidKnight's ears snapped back in frustration. "Know you? Follow you? You were the ones skulking about out in the darkness like bandits." Another kick of her hoof sent another dung disk into the fire, causing the blaze to rise again to expose the other doe.

Her face was painted white in the way of the druids, symbols carved into the paint, but her fur was as black as the night. She wore a ceremonial robe of tooled leather, but had no visible weapons save a simple dagger on her hip. In the few seconds glance Nadirah had to study her, she determined the doe was harmless and began to relax, although her weapon remained raised.

"We saw your fire, and hoped to find an ally." The druid snarled, her arms raised as if to defend herself from the weak fire light. "My husband thinks that we should kill you now, MidKnight." The word was spat out as an obvious insult. "But that would just tell your master where we are. Or does he already know?"

Nadirah snorted in disgust and lowered her own arms. "Husband?" She asked, ignoring the rest of the druid's words. "What husband?" She began to scan the darkness for any other figures.

The smaller silhouette roughly shoved the doe out of the way as it came forward, spouting angry sounds that were nothing but gibberish in the MidKnight's ears. The shadows peeled away to reveal the small figure as not a child, but a male dwarf. The dwarf wore a ring mail tunic over his tunic and clutched a small hatchet in each of his hands. He brandished them threateningly while he ranted.

Nadirah looked down at the small figure, then turned her gaze back to the nervous druid. "Husband?" She repeated incredulously.

The druid's ears snapped back and she roughly shoved the dwarf back behind her as she stepped forward. All fear was burned away with a blaze of temper as she faced the MidKnight. "Yes, my husband!" She snapped furiously. "And if you don't like it you can just... Just..... Ooooooo! It's complicated!"

The druid turned away from the MidKnight and began arguing with the dwarf. Nadirah was momentarily forgotten as they exchanged heated words that she couldn't make out. The MidKnight lowered her axe and let out a long sigh before turning away from the pair. She settled herself on the opposite side of the fire and laid her axe at her feet within easy reach. While the couple bickered, she once more stretched out her hands to the low flame.

Minutes later when the argument finally ended, Nadirah quietly watched the pair panic at her absence. "She's gone!" The druid cried out in alarm. For several seconds they frantically searched the darkness before finally spotting Nadirah on the opposite side of the small blaze. "Oh! There you are. Don't pull that trick again or we will end you, MidKnight!"

Nadirah let out a deep breath through her nose and reached out to tear a handful of grass from the ground before tossing it into the blaze. "The pair of you are about as dangerous as a newborn human. Sit by the damn fire if you want or continue on your way. Just do it quietly."

The druid's features froze in a look of confusion. "What kind of game are you playing, MidKnight?"

"The kind of game where you shut up, because your voice is beginning to hurt my ears." Nadirah snapped back. "Either sit down or don't. I'm hoping you don't and just go away." She tilted her head toward the dwarf. "He can stay, though. He doesn't talk as much."

Despite the lack of light, the druid's fury became obvious by the stiffening of her posture and the swift whipping of her tufted tail. Giving an angry "Hmph!" She stepped purposefully to the small fire and plopped to the ground.

The dwarf shifted his gaze between the two does several times before hesitantly settling down beside the druid. He slipped a pair of dark goggles over his sensitive eyes before facing the fire.

Nadirah looked over her unwelcome guests. The druid's arms were crossed tightly across her chest, her posture rigid with anger, her head turned away from the fire to glare into the darkness. The dwarf picked his nails with the tip of one hatchet while the other rested across his lap. "It's going to be a long night." She muttered to herself.

"If you make one move we don't like, MidKnight, then I swear by-"

"Quit with the posturing." Nadirah interrupted, her tone bored.

The druid snapped her head around to face the MidKnight, her mouth forming a ring of surprise, but offered no argument. A long silence stretched out between them while the druid glared her anger against the wall of the Midknight's indifference. "So how long?" She finally asked, shattering the settled peace.

Nadirah looked up, one ear stretching forward inquisitively. "How long what?"

"How long until reinforcements arrive." The druid replied.

Nadirah lifted her head higher and made a show of searching the darkness. "Well, I suppose that depends."

"On?" The druid snapped irritably.

"On how long ago you sent for them." Nadirah replied, turning her gaze back to the ground between her hooves.

"I meant you!" The druid replied, a note of exasperation entering her voice.

Once more Nadirah raised her head to look at her. "Oh. Well, in that case, you'll be waiting a good while."

The druid sighed in frustration and flapped her arms against her side. "Why..." The word was stretched out, more of a demand than a question.

The MidKnight tossed more fuel into the tiny fire before answering. "Because I didn't send for anyone."

"Oh? Is your master short handed these days, MidKnight?" The druid sneered.

"I don't have a master." Nadirah replied calmly.

"Don't lie to me, you vile scum." The druid snapped in response. "Everyone knows that MidKnights are special pets of the Undead King. You can't deny your creation to me."

"Is that so." Nadirah said simply.

"You may be out of uniform, but you still give yourself away." The druid continued, her chin lifting in triumph. "Which means that the Undead King is still your master."

"I told you, I have no master. And I really hate repeating myself." Nadirah's tone lowered in warning, her words growing clipped.

"You may as well give up on your attempts at deception, MidKnight. You won't fool either of us." The druid crowed.

Nadirah let out a long sigh through her nostrils. "You're free to leave my company at any time, you know."

"Ha! And let you call in your disgusting minions to ambush us in the darkness?" The druid replied. "I don't think so. Better to stay here and keep an eye on you until its safe for us to travel again."

"What is it with you druids thinking I need a babysitter." Nadirah said softly.

"Probably to keep you away from innocent victims, you beast!" The druid snapped. "You don't need a babysitter, you need an executioner! You and your despicable master!"

"Who is your master?" Nadirah asked.

"What? What do you mean? I don't have a master." The druid replied incredulously.

"And neither do I." Nadirah said coldly.

"What?!" The druid raged, rising to her feet. "You're a MidKnight! MidKnights are the Undead King's elite warriors! Of COURSE he's your master! How could he not be?"

"Because I have no masters." Nadirah replied.

The druid slowly floated back down to the ground, her painted face again twisted in confusion. None of the trio spoke again for the rest of the night.

"So you're telling me that you've actually met a MidKnight before? And survived? What was it like?"

"She really wasn't so bad." Taiyra replied. "She bit me when we first met, and that wasn't really so good, but after that-"

"Wait. Wait wait wait." Tesio interrupted. His eyes widened in surprise. "It bit you? And you survived?"

"Yes, well, you see, when I first came across her, I was already on my way here and I saw something strange. So of course I went to investigate and it turned out to be a tarin doe that had been crucified by orks. At first I thought she was just someone who had gotten on the wrong side of them. You know how temperamental they can be. Well, I decided to take her body down and give her a proper funeral. But then she started to wake up as I was pulling the daggers out of her hands, so of course my first thought was to try to heal her."

"You tried to heal a MidKnight?" Tesio exclaimed in a mixture of shock and wonder.

"Well, I didn't actually know that she was a MidKnight at the time. All I knew was that my magic kept failing and I couldn't figure out why. It had never failed me before. So I set her on the ground, and that was when she opened her eyes to look at me. They were glowing this weird color. The only thing I know of that causes any living creature's eye to glow that particular color is necromantic magic." Taiyra explained patiently.

"That must have been terrifying." Tesio replied. He slowly reached out to grasp his water skin, mechanically lifting it to his mouth for a drink while his eyes stared at the doe.

Taiyra turned her glance up to the grey sky, her eyes following one the clouds as it drifted across the horizon. "Well, it was certainly a surprise." She finally continued. "I don't think I would call it terrifying though." Lowering her gaze, she cocked her head in thought a moment before continuing. "Actually, I don't think I was ever actually afraid. Not even when she began drinking my blood."

"What?!" Tesio's voice rose several notes as he spoke. He nearly tumbled from his stool as he leaned forward. "It drank your blood? Like some kind of... wild animal or something?"

The doe turned to her companion and smiled pleasantly. Her eyes held only sympathy and understanding. "I didn't really mind. She needed it to heal herself. She was actually rather pleasant after that. She even watched over me until my illness passed."

The jruu shook his head in disbelief. "I feel like you're just playing with me now." He muttered softly. "Did all of this really happen or are you spinning me a yarn, here?"

Taiyra nodded, her bangles jingling slightly with the movement. "I know how it sounds. I didn't even know tarous could become MidKnights. Or ghouls either for that matter. But apparently the undead king has found a way. He didn't do a very good job of it, though, because I believe her when she told me that she wasn't under his control anymore."

"You mean you talked to it too?" Tesio asked in disbelief.

"Of course I did." Taiyra replied. "We had several conversations once my blood sickness passed."

"Wow." Tesio exclaimed. "Everything you're telling me is so incredible and unbelievable." He trained his eyes back onto the druid. "But you're telling me the truth aren't you."

"I always tell the truth." The druid said with another smile.

Tesio ran a hand down his face, ending with a sweep of his long tusks. "So what happened next?" He finally asked.

"Well, at first I'd bound her up with my bandages just before I fell to the illness, but when I woke up, she was gone. At that point I thought she was still one of the undead king's servants, so I had to find her. Then when I did find her, I had to save her from an angry whump. But once we were-"

"Wait." The jruu interrupted again. "An angry what?"

Taiyra took her time in answering, her eyes widening in surprise. The silence rested heavily between them as her eyes studied the agwa closely, taking in every detail. Her ears began to twitch thoughtfully, but whatever was on her mind, she kept to herself. "You don't know about whumps? They are very large and ill-tempered creatures that tend to live in swamps that like to crush intruders. Agwa and whumps share a lot of territory, are you sure you're not familiar with them? By a different name maybe?"

Tesio waved his hand dismissively. "My life shares very little in common with your average agwa. Especially my upbringing. In all honesty, I've had more experience with orks and humans than, uh... with my own people. Especially the last few years. But enough about me, what happened with the MidKnight? It got loose and didn't try to kill you?"

"Like I said, she really wasn't so bad. I was never really in any danger." Taiyra explained. "And she's not an it. She has a name."

"It, I mean, she, has a name?" The jruu echoed. "I'm sorry, I've only had experience with the usual ghouls, and they don't have anything but rotting bodies. No names, no memories, no souls. I've heard a little about Midknights but... I've never met one before. I've heard they feed on your energy, though. If you have any fear or hatred it makes them stronger. But I always thought that was just rumor."

"It's alright." Taiyra replied. "I haven't had much more experience than you have, truth be told." She giggled softly. "She told me her name was Nadirah."

"Nadirah?" Tesio repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Taiyra replied. "I'm quite sure."

The jruu's brow wrinkled. "But that's-"

"A strange name for a tarin?" Taiyra interrupted. "Yes, I know."

Tesio blinked slowly before responding. "Actually, I was thinking that it's a human name. I can't picture any of your people naming their babies after a human. But the undead king, they say he is, or used to be, a human."

The druid shook her head, the patient smile never leaving her face. "I know what you're trying to say. It's possible that he gave her a new name after she was... But I'm sure she wasn't still under his control, if she ever was in the first place. Her behavior was a little odd, but she can't really be blamed for that. Besides, she was fine when I left her with some friends of mine. They'll help her to-"

"What?" Tesio exclaimed, once again interrupting. "You left her with someone else?"

"Well, I took her to the tribe of a childhood friend of mine." The druid explained. "They'll take care of her until she can find her own tribe again. Or maybe she'll decide to join theirs."

"Do you... do you really think that was wise?" Tesio asked after another slow blink.

Taiyra slowly rose to her feet and took a single step away from the jruu, turning her back to him as she looked up into the sky. "Not really." She finally replied. "Honestly, I often think I should have stayed with her longer, make sure she was fitting in alright. I'm sure she's made friends by now, but sometimes I worry. She got so angry at me when I left her there, you know." She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "But at least I can rest easy knowing that she's not having to face the world all alone anymore."

Morning rays of sunlight peeked over the far horizon, finding the odd trio still surrounding the smoldering remains of the camp fire. Nadirah cleaned her axe with a scrap of cloth, occasionally lifting her head to search the empty grassland for any approaching threats. Finding none, she spared a glance to the dwarf. The rumbling growl of his snore was near deafening, and every once in a while, as if filled with too much air, he would let out an equally loud fart.

The MidKnight wondered how the druid, curled up a few feet away from him, could sleep through it all. She hoped that heavy sleep would work to her advantage when she finally abandoned them as soon as it was light enough.

The druid had been especially annoying, having spent half the night glaring suspiciously at Nadirah, watching her every move until exhaustion finally claimed her. While the pair were harmless to her on their own, Nadirah suspected they would try to find others to hunt her down the first chance they got. She began to consider killing them while they slept and save herself future trouble.

She rose to her feet, giving a soft groan as she stretched, then walked over to the druid. The young doe squirmed and whimpered, trapped in a nightmare. The MidKnight stared down at the restless doe, her face paint hopelessly smudged and cracked. The druid's features were crushed together in an expression of panic and her entire body shivered as if from cold. Nadirah could feel her pain as if it were a tangible force, soaking into the MidKnight's bones like a healing balm. It was barely enough to dull the sharp edge of her constant pain, but it was welcome none-the-less.

For several long seconds she stood over the troubled sleeper, enjoying a last taste of her misery before she began to reach down to wake her. The druid jerked upright before her hand made contact, swiping the air around her with her arms. "Get away from me, you monster! Don't touch me!"

Nadirah jumped back out of reach, her eyes widening in surprise before narrowing in annoyance. Her tail snapped back and forth across her legs. "Oh good. You're awake now." As if to emphasis her words, the dwarf let out another loud fart before resuming his log sawing.

The druid opened her mouth to say something, but Nadirah turned her back on the other doe and began walking away.

Gathering up her few possessions, the MidKnight heard the druid wake up the dwarf and the pair began whispering together. She glanced over her shoulder, almost expecting some trick or attempt at ambush, but they appeared to be arguing with each other again, so intent on their discussion that they barely even took notice her presence anymore. Nadirah shrugged and ignored them, turning her attention to the seemingly endless plains surrounding her.

Approaching footsteps made her swing around to once again face the young druid. "Um, MidKnight..." She began nervously, her head slightly bowed as if expecting to dodge a blow. "My husband and I greatly dislike having to rely on your mercy, but we were hoping to ask one last favor of you."

Nadirah sighed, already anticipating what was going to be asked. "What do you want now?"

"Well, you see..." The druid hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "We were hoping you could take us to a city or a camp. Any form of civilization would be nice, really."

"Why do I feel like this is some sort of a trick?" Nadirah grumbled.

"Oh no! No tricks! I swear!" The druid said quickly. "Its just that... I'm a bit distracted and he doesn't know his way around here and..." She paused, looking at Nadirah expectantly, but the Midknight refused to finish her sentence for her. "And it would be safer if we traveled together."

Nadirah let out a long exhale through her nose as she stared at the druid. "Fine." She finally said. "I'll take you to the place I just left. But you two had better stay out of my way. And when we get there, you will leave me alone."

"It really is a shame those cows weren't more cooperative." Kai sighed, swatting a particularly persistent bug out of his face. "I'm sure they could have saved us a lot of time and effort."

"Well, they might have been if you hadn't been so impatient." The wood elf snapped irritably.

"I only interfered because you were getting nowhere." Kai replied calmly, bringing his horse to a halt as he looked around. "Just like us."

Ryllae halted her mount a few steps ahead of her partner, turning in the saddle to glare at him. "Really, fleshie, you are not exactly a shining example of your species."

Kai scowled as he turned his burning glare to the wood elf. "Well you know what, stick muncher? I'm not real impressed with you right now either."

"Stick muncher?!" Ryllae exclaimed. She opened her mouth to add more but stopped herself, holding up her hands to stop further exchange. After taking a moment to inhale deeply and release her breath she continued, much calmer. "Arguing with each other won't help us find the Wolfcaller. And I don't need to remind you what will happen to us if we fail."

Kai sighed again before finally giving a nod in agreement. "What do you suggest? I suppose we could go always go back to the-"

"No." Ryllae interrupted. "No going back to retrace our steps. It will only waste precious time. What we need to do is start thinking like our prey. If you were a newly reawakened MidKnight that may or may not still have a connection to your master, where would you go?"

"Well, if I were still under the king's control, I'd be trying to head back home. But if that's the case, she seems to be a bit lost." Kai replied. "Maybe she's still trying to get her bearings?"

"This is true." Ryllae agreed. "But it could mean that she's being led toward some other purpose. The only other thing that makes any sense is that she's running away."

"Running away?" Kai repeated, turning his gaze back to his partner. "Do you think she's slipped her collar?"

Ryllae shrugged. "Can you think of any better explanations for her behavior?"

"Ok, let's assume either of those are true. So where is she going?" Kai clicked his tongue to urge his horse closer to the waiting kerstaug.

"That's what we need to figure out." Ryllae replied. "Where the hell would she go. It's unlikely that she's still being controlled, or we wouldn't have been sent to fetch her. So the most likely option is that she's on the run. Now tauros are very suspicious creatures, sometimes even of each other. They'll kill her on sight if they see a MidKnight approaching. So, if you were an escaped soul-forsaken monster trying to hide from the world, where would you go?"

Nadirah stared down blankly at the dwarf as he ranted angrily at her. Behind him, the druid lay panting on the grass, her dark fur glistening with sweat. The dwarf pointed back at the ill doe several times during his furious outburst, but nothing he said made her stir.

"Ok, so I didn't understand a single word you said." Nadirah finally interrupted, patience at its end. "But this was supposed to be a one day trip. This is our third rest stop and your 'wife' is only getting sicker and slowing us down. At this rate, we won't make it there within a week. So either you make her get up and keep moving, or I leave you both behind. If she can't walk, you can carry her for all I care."

"Please..." The druid croaked weakly. "Just a few more minutes and I'll be just fine. I promise."

"That's the same promise you made the last two times we stopped, but I don't see you getting any better." Nadirah called back over the dwarf's head.

The dwarf made a rude gesture at the MidKnight before scurrying to the druid's side and muttering something incomprehensible to her.

"There's no need for that." The druid replied softly. "I'm sure it's the undead king's influence and not bad breeding,..." She stopped talking a moment to catch her breath before continuing. "That accounts for her poor manners."

Nadirah gave a snort of annoyance. "Are you coming or do I put you out of my misery?"

"No." The druid replied, panting heavily. "We...we're coming." Rising to her feet was a struggle, even with the assistance of her dwarven husband, but the druid finally stood and began to hobble unsteadily toward the MidKnight.

"If you can keep yourself alive for a few more hours, we should reach their camp." Nadirah said with an irritated snort. "Then maybe I'll finally be left alone."

The dwarf and druid exchanged hushed words as they walked, but Nadirah didn't bother trying to listen. Several times she had to slow her pace and would pretend to find tracks or hear a threatening noise as an excuse to stop and wait for the pair to catch up. The first sun had set and was being followed by the second when Nadirah finally halted and turned to look back at her followers. "It should be just over this swell here. They don't tend to move very fast." Without waiting for them, she turned and began walking in the indicated direction. She stopped as she crested the small hill, her shoulders slumping wearily and her head drooping low. "Aw hell."

"What?" The druid wheezed. "Have they already gone?" The pair awkwardly hurried to join Nadirah on the hill, but were also struck still by what lay before them.

The ground had been torn up and trampled into mud. Mutilated bodies lay scattered haphazardly. A cart had been overturned, its contents strewn around it. "Ghouls!" The druid spoke in a harsh whisper.

Nadirah walked to one of the corpses, which had once been a tarin bull, and knelt down to inspect the wounds.

"You! You did this, didn't you!" The druid accused, jabbing a finger angrily in the MidKnight's direction. "You killed them! You or your not-master!"

"No." Nadirah replied calmly. "And it wasn't ghouls, either."

"And how would you know if you weren't responsible?" The druid demanded.

Nadirah took her time standing back up, taking a moment to look around her. "Because none of them were eaten." She finally replied. "Ghouls are basically just mindless mouths that happen to still be connected to a body. This was done by something entirely different."

"What do you mean... entirely different?" The druid panted heavily. Carefully, she lowered herself to the ground and leaned on her husband for support. "Different how?"

Nadirah scowled at the druid. "You really love to ask stupid questions, don't you. It means that who or whatever did this, tore the victims apart and then left them. It almost looks like an attack by orks, but why would they come all the way out here?" The MidKnight's ears twitched alertly as she searched for any sign of lingering danger.

"Orks?" The druid wheezed. "What in the world are you tal-"

"Hush." Nadirah commanded. "Did you hear that?" Without waiting for an answer, she hurried off.

The druid carefully dragged herself to her feet, barely able to keep her balance, and followed behind. The dwarf grunted with the effort of keeping her upright but did not offer complaint. The pair found the MidKnight a short distance away, kneeling at the head of a kordox. At first the druid thought the mountainous beast was dead. The shafts of two spears protruded from its shaggy side, and another rested deep in its shoulder. Rings of dried blood crusted the fur surrounding the wounds. Its breathing was so shallow that its side barely moved.

As the pair came closer, the druid saw a large dark eye peering out from beneath its thick mane. As it spotted them, it let out a mournful moan and shuddered. The MidKnight had one hand resting on the animal's neck while another gently stroked its broad muzzle. "Can you heal him?" She softly asked without looking away from the large brown beast.

The druid shook her head, again sinking to the ground. "No, not in the shape I'm in. I don't even have a life vine. But maybe we could find-"

"Understood." Nadirah interrupted again. She bowed her head until her mouth was next to the creature's ear. "You may rest now, my friend." She spoke in soft tones to the kordox. The druid watched in horror as the MidKnight swiftly plucked a small dagger from her belt and cut the kordox's throat. The beast gave a brief noise of protest before falling silent. Its eyes rolled back in panic before sliding closed.

"What did you do?!" The druid screamed, immediately regretting the waste of her precious energy.

The MidKnight raised her head to look at her questioningly as she wiped the blade clean on a patch of fur before returning it to her belt.

"You killed it!" The druid continued, struggling for enough breath to yell.

"You and your stupid questions. Why would you ask me something you already know the answer to?" Nadirah asked, rising to her feet.

"You killed that poor thing!" The druid accused again. "You monster!"

Nadirah gave an irritated snort, her gaze moving from the ill druid to the dead kordox, then back again. "This animal would not have lasted more than a few more hours and you would leave it to suffer alone because you can't face its death. But I'm the monster."

"Because you killed it." The druid's voice broke and tears began to moisten the fur around her eyes. "Something might have been done. There may have been.... someone...."

Nadirah turned away. "You put too much faith in good fortune. At least now the beast will be useful to us." She walked over to one of the tarous corpses and began to drag it closer to the dead kordox. "I might still be strong enough to make two of them."

"What? What does that even mean?" The druid sobbed. "What are you doing now?" The dwarf looked uncomfortable at her display of emotion.

"You can't walk and I'm tired of waiting on you." Nadirah said, dragging a second corpse to the pile. "And don't even think of asking me to carry you."

"MidKnight! What are you-" The druid was interrupted by a wracking cough. "What are you doing with those bodies?" She finally wheezed.

"Making them into something more useful." Nadirah replied. "We need to cover more ground."

The druid fell to all fours, her tears burned away by a burst of rage. "What!" she exclaimed. "You would dare defile the bodies of my fallen brothers and sisters to practice your disgusting black magic?!"

"I doubt they'll be complaining any. They seem to be done using them." Nadirah drew her dagger and hovered it over her palm.

"I knew you were a monster." The druid hissed, her fingers tearing into the soil.

"I suppose I am, aren't I." The MidKnight replied, drawing the blade swiftly across her palm. "I don't think orks did this. But ghouls didn't either. I think Malthamus sent out a hunting party to find me." Curling her fingers, she tossed her hand as if casting seeds. Small drops of black blood splashed into the air before landing on the waiting corpses.

The druid looked away as the bodies began to shiver and writhe, the ground around them cracking open. Despite the odd sounds she heard, she refused to look back until it finally fell silent again. Even the ever-present grunting and puffing of her dwarf husband was absent. Daring a glance, she nearly screamed at the abominations that stood before the MidKnight, submitting to her inspection.

The smaller of the two golems almost resembled a horse at first glance, with the appearance of a long neck and sloping, triangular head. But as the druid looked closer, she realized that what she had mistaken for a neck was actually made of several intertwined arms, ending in a pair of forearms, bent at the elbow and interlocked at the fingers as if to form a mouth. Lidless eyes stared out from the cradle of inner elbows.

The rest of the creature was a further amalgamation of misplaced parts, including the face of a tarous bull stretched across the golem's shoulder, the bull's horns sticking out at odd angles. The larger of the two was more reasonable with the creature's rib cage appearing to be inverted, sticking up through the kordox pelt to create a sort of saddle, the belly of the beast concave with its loss of bones.

"Not my best work, admittedly, but I think they'll do." Nadirah said, giving the former kordox an affectionate pat. "We need to hurry, though. They'll only last a few hours and we have a lot of ground to cover."

The druid gasped in horror. "You don't actually expect me to ride one of those horrid things, do you?"

Nadirah turned her head to look at the druid for the first time, tail whipping in irritation. "I'll be controlling them. All you have to do is stay on. Or you can stay here."

The ride was hard and long. It took several hours to cross the grassland. The druid managed to stay atop her mount only with help from her husband, her own failing health worsening with every step of the hellish creation she rode.

Nadirah took no notice of the druid's plight. Her own attention was focused on scanning the land for settlements and controlling the golems. When she finally spotted a small encampment, she slowed the golems and approached carefully.

As she approached, a warning call was sounded. Several tarous appeared from behind the roughly hewn log wall that surrounded the camp. Their weapons were raised in threat and they gave no indication of welcome. She brought the golems to a halt and looked over her shoulder at the druid. The dark-furred doe's breath came in harsh gasps and her head lolled limply against her chest. The dwarf was straining to keep her upright on the golem's back. She considered sending the pair in alone and then taking off.

Most likely they would be killed, especially the ill druid, but they weren't the MidKnight's concern. She was only helping the pair as long as she had because, well, she wasn't sure why exactly, but she was sure it was a good reason.

Giving a grunt, Nadirah turned the golems and charged them toward the camp, her own mount in the lead. The flight of a spear brought their progress to another halt, the MidKnight's eyes tracking its progress until it sank harmlessly into her mount's flank. The amalgam gave no indication of distress at the wound, and was soon moving forward again.

Nadirah's ears flattened as she spotted yet another spear that pierced the golem's shoulder near her leg. "If one more of those come my way, I won't be coming in peace anymore!" She yelled to the gathered protectors, tiring of their attacks.

Instead of ceasing, the group charged the newcomers, quickly surrounding the golems and their riders. They held their weapons at the ready, preparing to defend themselves. "What do you want, MidKnight?" Demanded a young bull, his battle axe held high and ready to swing. "The necromancer and his minions will find no quarter here!"

Nadirah's tail lashed in irritation and her eyes narrowed, but she kept her voice calm as she spoke. "I came because we require a healer." The sudden heavy thump of a large body striking the ground came from behind the MidKnight, followed by a protesting shout from the dwarf.

Nadirah's ears snapped forward in surprise. She glanced back at the black doe, who laid sprawled on the ground, limbs tangled with each other. When she turned back to the demanding bull, she gave a slight shrug. "Never mind. The problem seems to have corrected itself."