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I came to my senses several hours later to find Death curled up beside me, her head on my chest. She must have felt me stir for her dark eyes flickered open. Slowly she sat and stretched, the motion doing interesting things to her elegant figure. I tried to rise but she gently pushed me back down, "Get some rest, you'll need it." She told me and still weary from the previous day's events, I didn't argue. "One last gift before I go." She leaned down and gently kissed me on the forehead. At the same time she slipped a large chunk of smooth stone into my hand. "Bring that to the ancient healer, she'll know what to do with it." She said as she vanished, her warmth lingering for several minutes. I clutched whatever she gave me to my chest and slowly dropped off to sleep once more.

"Oi! Found him!" someone shouted, their shout immediately followed by the sound of running feet. At the same time something prodded me in the side. "You think he's dead?" asked a familiar voice. "Nah, he's still breathing." answered another. I groaned and opened my eyes, the bleary shapes of several of my kin floating above me. Slowly they came into focus; Mikko, Usav, and several other berserkers stood around me. "Sorry, Lad. We'd have come looking for you earlier but the King kept telling us that the Priestess probably wanted a private word with you." Usav told me, "Looks like she wanted more than just a word." muttered Mikko, passing me my loincloth and leather pouch from where they had been carelessly tossed during the night. "Either way, when you weren't back by dawn we decided to come looking for you." Usav followed, I could tell he was trying to keep himself from making some kind comment about what had obviously passed between Death and myself.

I muttered my thanks and climbed to my feet. As I tied the loincloth around my waist, I took a moment to examine the stone Death had given me before slipping it into my pouch. It was a large chunk of a smooth and glossy black stone, I remembered seeing similar stones brought back from hunters that ventured far from the borders of our land. "Usav, who's the oldest healer at the camp?" I asked. He gave me an odd glance but answered, "That would be Helgarth. Trust me Lad, you don't want to see her unless there's no other healer available." The weathered berserker sounded almost scared. I nodded and we turned back to the camp.

"So... you and the Priestess...?" Mikko tried to ask. I had known him long enough to figure out what he was trying to say. "I don't really know, she took the lead and I just went with it." I told him, "To be honest, I don't really remember much of last night." "Well... we heard the howls all the way back at camp." Mikko told me, my steps faltered for a moment and my face burned with embarrassment. "Sounded like you had a good night even if you gave us a scare." added Usav with a chuckle.

Once we arrived back at the camp I immediately set about finding the old healer. Usav and the berserkers wished me luck before heading back to our portion of the camp while Mikko left to rejoin his own unit. Finding Helgarth wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. A lone and tattered tent stood at the far edge of the camp, a fair distance from everything else. Helgarth herself was impossible to miss, a stooped and ancient woman. Her fur had been bleached white by time and her eyes were pure silver. I bowed my head respectfully towards the ancient healer. "Helgarth, I was told to find you." The old woman turned towards me, with surprising strength she grabbed my muzzle and pulled me down to look me in the eye. I squirmed with discomfort as I met her gaze, "So, you're the one everyone's been making a fuss about. Look like just another fool, too busy smashing skull to realize your own neck is on the block. Oh well, Death has told me to expect you, come."

She practically dragged me into her tent, not letting go of my muzzle. The inside of her tent looked more like a butcher's tent than a healer's. Various exotic and vicious knives hung from hooks and straps while strange herbs and bundles of oddly stained cloth lay scattered about. She finally let go of me, "Sit." I sat, "Now boy, what was it that Death gave you?" I carefully pulled the chunk of stone from my pouch. "Ahh, she really has taken a liking to you if she's willing to give you something like this." Without warning the old healer spun and tore off the bandages over my empty eye socket with one hand, the other jabbed me in the side with a slender and needle-like knife. Before I could react I felt myself going numb. As she pulled the blade loose I saw a thick paste clinging to the tip. "Let's get started shall we?" she pried open the sunken lid, taking a close look at the empty socket. After several minutes she was satisfied, taking the lump of stone and turning towards one of the stained tables. I could only sit there, slumped to one side, and watch her work. She began chanting various spells, carefully shaping the stone with incredible precision.

Finally, after several long and increasingly uncomfortable minutes, she finished. The lump of stone was now a smooth sphere, roughly the size of an eyeball. She filled a large flask with water and added several herbs, with short brisk movements she used it to clean the stone. Kneeling in front of me, she once more pried open my eyelid and unceremoniously jammed the sphere into my head. My vision flickered and I closed my good eye. I found that I could see through the stone, though it wasn't the same kind of vision I was used to. Through the stone eye I saw things as only shadows amongst fields of grey, though everything living was wreathed in a fiery aura. Reopening my good eye, the two images seemed to overlap, the aura casting strange shades over once familiar colors.

"Obsidian has always been Death's favorite stone ... this piece has been enchanted with spells unique to the Halls of the Dead. It was all I could do to simply shape it." Helgath told me, "By the way, while you're here..." she grabbed another knife from its hook and proceeded to cut a series of small incisions across my chest. Her poison kept me rooted to the spot as she worked, sinking her fingers into the wounds and pulling barbed arrowheads from my chest and shoulders. Finally she finished and treated the new wounds with a more traditional salve. She picked up another one of the needle-like knives, dipping it in yet another flask before jabbing me again. Almost instantly the poison let up and I could move again. "Don't die too soon Boy and let that gift go to waste." She told me as I left, muttering a hurried thanks.

Walking through the camp was disorienting at first as auras flashed in and out of view as people hurried back and forth, carrying out their duties. Slowly I became use to my new eye and it began to feel strangely natural. "Just in time Lad, the King is on his way here." Usav told me as I rejoined the berserkers. He did a small double take as he say my eye, "Fitting look for you, guessing that's why you went to see Helgath?" I nodded, "Her cures hurt to the point where even we can feel it but there's no denying her results." he muttered as the King and the other generals walked into view.

The whole camp fell silent and we bowed our heads as the King addressed us. "Given the untimely death of General Narkath, I'm afraid it is time for the berserkers to find a new leader. Since this is dictated by your traditions, I will not impose my own choice upon you. Let me know when your choice has been made." With that he left and I felt many eyes upon me and heard the mutterings of the other berserkers. It seemed many of them wanted me, the only one to have defeated Narkath in a fair fight, to take his place. Others felt I was far too young, still others tried to claim I wasn't strong enough, despite my actions during the war, though they were quickly silenced by the others. It was only then I realized how much respect I had earned during our many battles.

After several hours of heated debate, and a few brawls, we had made our decision. I stepped over the unconscious body of my last challenger and turned towards the others, they bowed their heads. "Impressive Lad, or should I start calling you Sir from now on?" Usav asked. "Only when the other generals or their units are around." I told him with a laugh. "If you insist, Lad."

He sent for healers while I went off to meet the King. "Enter," A voice called as I drew near the King's tent. He gave me a warm smile as I ducked through the door of the tent. "Not only the youngest berserker, but now they youngest general as well. You really are an interesting one Verloth." I bowed, "Thank you, Sire." "I wonder how the other generals will take this news." he mused, "But no matter, there are more important matters at hand. We recently received new that one of the dragon-kin's main camps just sent a large detachment of their troops to aid their other two camps. This is a perfect opportunity to capture that camp. As always the berserkers will lead the attack, though what makes this different is that you will be attacking at night. The less warning they have the better." He told me. "When do you want us to move?" I asked, "As soon as you can, oh, and congratulations on your promotion." I bowed once more and left.

As I returned to the rest of the pack I found the healers had already done their work. Those that challenged me bowed their heads as I passed. I gave the pack the news and they cheered, eager to fight. "If we leave now we can get to the camp before nightfall." Usav told me, I nodded and gave the order to march. It felt strange to see them all scurry about to follow my orders.

We ate along the way, discussing the upcoming battle. I ordered a halt as we neared the crest of the hill overlooking the dragon-kin's camp. My plan was to follow the king's suggestion and wait till nightfall but as the sun sank into the horizon and the shadows grew longer I felt a strange chill. I saw the others shiver and look frantically around for the source of this strange cold. We drew together, forming a large group that faced outward in all directions, though none of us could see anything that would indicate an attack. Even my stone eye saw nothing but our own auras.

The sun was barely peering over the edge of the tree when a figure rose from my shadow. A wolf-kin, his tall and slender form mostly hidden by a cloak of shifting shadows. The only part of him we could see clearly were his eyes, twin orbs of glittering crimson that stared from amidst the purest darkness, like bloody stars in a moonless sky. The shifting darkness brushed against me and I bit back a yelp as an intense cold ran through me. The figure bowed, "Greetings to the youngest general. The other Priests spoke highly of you." His voice was a harsh and cold whisper. We bowed before the Priest of Darkness for of all the priests he was perhaps the most dangerous, or at least the most unpredictable. His presence here was unnerving, and I noticed the others shift about uncomfortably simply from being this close to him.

"Things at this camp may not be what they seem. A great lizard walks between the tents, eager for blood. Those foolish enough to rush in, rush to their deaths." he whispered. "Are you saying we should abandon the attack?" I asked. "Of course not. Follow, if you wish." With that he turned and descended the hill, flowing over the ground in a most unsettling manner. We followed, trying our best to avoid being noticed.

The priest reached the camp long before we did, and the screaming soon followed. A chorus of the damned greeted us as we reached the camp's gate. Its defenders already dead, torn apart by some great force. Carefully we worked our way farther into the camp but found no opposition. It was then we saw Darkness strolling along the main path, great tendrils of shadows had sprouted from the ground around him and several more from his back. They lashed about, wrapping around humans and dragon-kin alike as they tried to flee from his presence, tearing them apart with frightening force.

We stopped dead when we reached the center. Before us sat one of the ancient dragons, ancestors and gods to the dragon-kin and their human allies. The elegant beast wasn't as large as their legends had lead us to believe but it was still an intimidating sight. It stood as tall as one of the humans' warhorses but its body was easily twice as long. Great wings emerged from its back and were held close to its sides as it wove between the tents. Its vivid blue scales shone like water in the flickering light of the camp's torches. A low rumbling growl rose from its throat as it approached us. Darkness laughed and stepped forward, we tried to follow but more tendrils lashed up from the ground, binding us in place. "Now, now, children." he chided as we struggled against the cold shadows.

The creature roared and confronted Darkness. Its teeth and claws flashed but it couldn't land a hit. The priest's form constantly flickered and blurred through the long shadows of the surrounding tents. He was chanting all the while, an ancient spell whose very energies simply felt wrong. The dragon grew increasingly more frustrated as the priest continued to evade its attacks. Its tail flattened a tent as it lashed out at the elusive priest. As the last syllable of his chant faded the dragon contorted with pain, its great sinuous body thrashing about. As we watched shards of darkness tore their way through its flesh, ripping it apart from the inside out. At the same time the tendrils that bound us faded away.

Chuckling, Darkness approached the great beast and knelt by its head. A shadowy dagger appeared in his hand and he proceeded to cut loose one of its fangs. He turned back to us, the tendrils slowly sinking back into the shadows that hid his form. "A gift for the youngest general." He said, pressing the fang into my hand, a chilling laughter bubbling in his hoarse voice. I stared down at the bloody fang and by the time I looked up he was gone.

We searched what remained of the camp but found little that gave away the dragon-kin's plans. Final, I gave the order to fall back and return to our own camp. Along the way I wiped the blood from the fang and slipped it into my pouch, it would be foolish to simply throw away a gift from any of the priests. Our kin stared at us in shock when we finally returned. Normally we returned covered in wounds and blood but this time we were uninjured and clean. I headed off to meet with the King and tell him of what had happened.

The King seemed startled to hear of Darkness's involvement but at the same time relieved that we had survived and were victorious. We talked of the implications of Darkness's involvement but in the end we gave up for it was far too difficult to fathom what it was that drove him. I returned to my own tent to find Mikko there crouching by the cooking fire. "You left before the news spread, the whole camp is talking about your promotion." He told me. I settled down beside him and told him of the priest's assault on the camp. His eyes grew wide and he shivered as I showed him the dragon's fang. "And Darkness was able to kill it?" he asked, staring at the tooth in awe. I nodded and tucked the fang back into my pouch. "Yeah, he wouldn't let us join him either." I told him. Mikko shook his head, "I don't think we'll ever figure out what's going through his mind. Though on the bright side, you've met all four of the priests, not many that can say that." "I suppose, that's pretty impressive." I said, too tired to really think much of meeting the priests. Mikko laughed and rose, heading back to what was left of his unit, clapping me on the shoulder as he left.

In the following week I led the berserkers through several more skirmishes. We tore through enemy ranks with brutal efficiency, slowly driving them back towards the mountains. All the while my reputation continued to grow, earning me the respect of the other generals and their units. As the dragon-kin retreated the battles became far and few between. Until there was little for us to do other than hunt down the occasional scouting party.

Until one day, I met with the King and other generals. "Our scouts report that the rest of the dragon-kin's troops are gathering at the base of the mountains. They seem to be preparing for an all-out siege." one of the generals informed us. "They're growing desperate, most likely a response to the priest of darkness's assault from several nights ago and the recent work of the berserkers. Velroth, I believe you can give us more details on that." The king said, I nodded and gave a brief description of what had happened over the past week. Several of the generals shivered as I told them the details of how Darkness ravaged the camp and of our own work with the other camps. Our discussion continued for several hours as we tried to work out how to best deal with the dragon-kin's coming siege.

In the end we decided to confront the dragon-kin on their own terms. We had a slight advantage over them and the others were eager to see the end of this war. The rest of the day was spent packing up the camp and organizing the various units. It still felt strange to see my kin, berserkers and warriors alike hurrying about and following my orders. We marched through the night and by dawn we reached the base of the mountain. We saw the dragon-kin army from almost a mile away. A dark line of writhing shapes that stood out against the grey of the rocks. We set our camp and settled down to wait, to wait and see who would be willing to make the first move to end this war.