It was one of those rare nights when the moon seemed to eclipse every star in the sky, its white visage so full that it felt closer in its proximity to the earth. But its luminous gaze remained cold and distant still, as a single snowflake drifted and spun in the night unnoticed. It rolled along with of the waves of the cold Coerthan wind, dancing merrily despite the deathly howls that echoed through the darkness. It twirled one last time before it came to its gentle landing upon the ground, where it sank and dissolved into the blood soaked terrain.
The moonlight lent the sword that swung through the air a silvery gleam, just as it opened a gashing wound on the neck of a wolf, sending its twitching body to join its lifeless brethren on the frozen landscape. More snow wolves paced in a circle about the periphery of the clearing, all of their fangs bared. But they were now hesitant in charging forward, wary of the single figure that stood in the middle, surrounded by a pile of crimson-stained corpses.
Roen flexed her fingers around the hilt of her sword, its bloodied tip hovering just above the snow. She exhaled slowly, grey eyes scanning the ring of beasts for the next one to come within her blade’s reach. The exertion had already quickened her pulse, warmth of anticipation coursing through her veins.
Hungry beasts had been descending from the high mountains in droves to hunt livestock, some even attacking the villagers and their children. The local inhabitants called for help, offering a bounty for anyone to fend them off. Roen had grown weary of her stay at picturesque Fallguard, and venturing north back across the borders into Coerthas, she had finally found something to do.
The wolves paced still, circling and winding past each other. They are pack animals. They will likely coordinate their attacks, the paladin reminded herself. Where such thoughts might have brought tension to her frame years past, she now found herself calm and focused. Such endeavors, hunting beasts while fighting in freezing temperatures, it was all that she had known for past year now since fleeing to this frigid place. It had been an arduous way of life to complete the duties that she was assigned while trying to fend off frostbite; but she had welcomed such an occupation of the mind as well as the exhaustion to the body.
But now… such tasks were means of a release. As another wolf leaped through the air intent for her head, Roen slashed across its neck, the sharpened edge of her blade digging into its flesh below its opened maw. But when the tip of the sword dug into the vertebrae, there it stuck. She rolled to her side as the blade pulled her to the ground with its added weight, the paladin tucking and rolling with it as she dodged another leaping for her back. She skidded to her feet, and planted her armored boot on the carcass to dislodge the sword in time to bat another away her shield.
"You feel a need to be capable of doing everything. Capable of assisting everyone. This feeling of need causes you distress."
A yelp ended the breath of another beast as her blade sliced through its jugular. But it was the low rumbling voice of an Au Ra that echoed through her thoughts, and with it she suddenly felt the absence of a familiar presence. It felt strange that she was not fighting alongside Khadai for once.
"You believe my failing was that I spread myself too thin. Tried to achieve things that I was never capable of.â€
Another beast came at her thigh, and its jaw cracked as it impacted the metal tip of her boot.
"Or that you did not rely enough on those who were capable."
More creatures fell, and soon the ice beneath her feet began to crawl with dark red veins across its surface. Her breaths were now coming in quick succession, her chest rising and falling hard beneath her armor. The pack was withdrawing back into the shadows of the mountain, fear overtaking their fury.
A deep growl broke through the chilly air behind her, accompanied by the unmistakable stench that could only mark a feral croc’s proximity.
Roen turned in time to see the croc’s charge, and when it was just within reach, it swung its massive mandible at her entire frame. She was able to raise her shield to place it between her and the creature, but the impact sent her sliding backwards on the ice. Her shield tip and boots skidded loudly over the frozen ground as she came to a crouching stop. The paladin grimaced as she saw the croc running after her again, this time with its large mouth open three ways and ready to swallow her whole. She could see the hungry gleam in its black eyes beneath the split upper jaw.
It must have come looking for a free meal after the commotion. The paladin rolled out of the way as it scooped up the fulms of snow where she had been standing. My job is done, she told herself. I should just go.
But when she regained her bearings, she looked not to the Haldrath’s March, but back at the scalekin. She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her sword again.
"You said you ran a sword through him to come to be. I will do the same if that is what it takes."
Another conversation whispered in her ear as the paladin scrambled up a rocky boulder nearby. They were the words that were exchanged between her and the man who wore her brother’s face.
"Then Prove yourself, Little Wolf."
Beneath the stone etched symbols of the Sactum of the Twelve the armored man had stood, his eyes bearing a darkness she did not recognize, his familiar visage twisted with contempt that did not belong there. It made her angry then---and it still riled her now.
"You will see I am no longer little."
The croc whirled about, the three mandibles of his maw wide open as the scalekin’s eyes searched for its prey. When it turned its head upwards, Roen leaped off from the apex of the boulder, her sword raised high above her head.
Roen wrinkled her nose as she lifted the matted rows of thick fur with the edge of her sword. Her lips curled with distaste as more flecks of dirt and ice fell to the ground loosened from its leathery coat and another pungent waft of odor greeted her senses. She gave a wide berth to what looked like some partially digested remains of some animal that had also dribbled out of its muzzle, her stride lengthening as she walked around the lifeless corpse. The paladin glanced over her shoulder to the rest of the remains that littered the hillside; her limbs were starting to grow heavier with fatigue. Her breaths came slower now, her earlier agitation having been burned off.
It was amidst a snowy bank like this where they had come upon another dead corpse many moons ago. She could still recall the expression of death on the Au Ra female’s face, the body speared through the chest and displayed out for all to see.
“Some agents of the Church stopped by Khadai’s inn room, looking for him.†Roen frowned as she recalled the conversation she had with Edda only a few suns past beneath the Fallguard’s canopy. “He was able to make an escape, though they are tenacious if nothing else. I am sure they will return.â€
The noblewoman had come to the North Shroud to tell the paladin that she had ended her contract with Khadai but to also bestow a warning. While Edda no longer held the Au Ra to any obligation, it was clear to Roen that she still worried for the warrior.
"Whatever unwarranted sense of justice that clouds their senses is beyond me. All I know is that they came looking for him." Her practiced smile never left the woman’s lips, but Roen could sense that the affair weighed on Edda’s mind. "Will you not return to Ishgard soon? Though there is nothing I can do for him, you may yet be able to."
Roen’s fingers lightly brushed her belt pouch as if to remind herself of a certain pearl there--one that she, Edda, and Khadai shared. The Xaela had not spoken over the linkshell about any troubles, although the paladin doubted that he would do so unless there was true mortal danger.
Would he ask for help even then?
A sharp exhale plumed into a puff of steam as Roen reached for the piece of cloth in her belt pouch. She shook her head as she ran the fold of the cloth over the length of her blade, as if to silently chide the absent warrior’s stubbornness.
But would I do any different? The paladin heard her own wry voice tsking at her. A sigh sagged her shoulders and she paused. Would I? Still?
"I know not what goes through that Hyur head of yours sometimes, and I have come to accept that your life has made you wary of some things. But I think you should know I consider you a sister. You can keep me at any length, and I doubt what I feel will ever be different."
A quiet snort escaped her lips as Kiht’s voice rose to memory. It was an honest and unsolicited confession, one that had surprised her and it made Kiht a little sheepish after the fact. Roen pursed her lips in thought, to push away any other expression that might have risen. This was not a good time to get sentimental after all. But the thought of seeing her again, as well as many others that she had come to find since coming to the Shroud, did not fill her with dread as it used to.
It was at the Keeper’s and Delial’s behest that Roen had come to Gridania, to try and help her brother who had lost his way. It was a task that Roen had long feared and resisted, but she finally came to admit that she could not hide in Coerthas forever from everyone and everything she knew.
But what of Khadai?
Roen sighed again as she sheathed her sword, staring at the bright moon above. He is capable. I have to trust in that. Was that not his own advice? Certainly he would not fault her for abiding by his counsel. But she could not deny that she felt a certain stir of disquiet in the back of her mind, one that would not be put to rest until she at least knew why the Church was seeking him out.
But first things first.
Roen turned toward Haldrath’s March, taking the southern path towards the Observatorium and eventually back to the North Shroud.
I need to see that Gharen is set to rights.
The moonlight lent the sword that swung through the air a silvery gleam, just as it opened a gashing wound on the neck of a wolf, sending its twitching body to join its lifeless brethren on the frozen landscape. More snow wolves paced in a circle about the periphery of the clearing, all of their fangs bared. But they were now hesitant in charging forward, wary of the single figure that stood in the middle, surrounded by a pile of crimson-stained corpses.
Roen flexed her fingers around the hilt of her sword, its bloodied tip hovering just above the snow. She exhaled slowly, grey eyes scanning the ring of beasts for the next one to come within her blade’s reach. The exertion had already quickened her pulse, warmth of anticipation coursing through her veins.
Hungry beasts had been descending from the high mountains in droves to hunt livestock, some even attacking the villagers and their children. The local inhabitants called for help, offering a bounty for anyone to fend them off. Roen had grown weary of her stay at picturesque Fallguard, and venturing north back across the borders into Coerthas, she had finally found something to do.
The wolves paced still, circling and winding past each other. They are pack animals. They will likely coordinate their attacks, the paladin reminded herself. Where such thoughts might have brought tension to her frame years past, she now found herself calm and focused. Such endeavors, hunting beasts while fighting in freezing temperatures, it was all that she had known for past year now since fleeing to this frigid place. It had been an arduous way of life to complete the duties that she was assigned while trying to fend off frostbite; but she had welcomed such an occupation of the mind as well as the exhaustion to the body.
But now… such tasks were means of a release. As another wolf leaped through the air intent for her head, Roen slashed across its neck, the sharpened edge of her blade digging into its flesh below its opened maw. But when the tip of the sword dug into the vertebrae, there it stuck. She rolled to her side as the blade pulled her to the ground with its added weight, the paladin tucking and rolling with it as she dodged another leaping for her back. She skidded to her feet, and planted her armored boot on the carcass to dislodge the sword in time to bat another away her shield.
"You feel a need to be capable of doing everything. Capable of assisting everyone. This feeling of need causes you distress."
A yelp ended the breath of another beast as her blade sliced through its jugular. But it was the low rumbling voice of an Au Ra that echoed through her thoughts, and with it she suddenly felt the absence of a familiar presence. It felt strange that she was not fighting alongside Khadai for once.
"You believe my failing was that I spread myself too thin. Tried to achieve things that I was never capable of.â€
Another beast came at her thigh, and its jaw cracked as it impacted the metal tip of her boot.
"Or that you did not rely enough on those who were capable."
More creatures fell, and soon the ice beneath her feet began to crawl with dark red veins across its surface. Her breaths were now coming in quick succession, her chest rising and falling hard beneath her armor. The pack was withdrawing back into the shadows of the mountain, fear overtaking their fury.
A deep growl broke through the chilly air behind her, accompanied by the unmistakable stench that could only mark a feral croc’s proximity.
Roen turned in time to see the croc’s charge, and when it was just within reach, it swung its massive mandible at her entire frame. She was able to raise her shield to place it between her and the creature, but the impact sent her sliding backwards on the ice. Her shield tip and boots skidded loudly over the frozen ground as she came to a crouching stop. The paladin grimaced as she saw the croc running after her again, this time with its large mouth open three ways and ready to swallow her whole. She could see the hungry gleam in its black eyes beneath the split upper jaw.
It must have come looking for a free meal after the commotion. The paladin rolled out of the way as it scooped up the fulms of snow where she had been standing. My job is done, she told herself. I should just go.
But when she regained her bearings, she looked not to the Haldrath’s March, but back at the scalekin. She flexed her fingers around the hilt of her sword again.
"You said you ran a sword through him to come to be. I will do the same if that is what it takes."
Another conversation whispered in her ear as the paladin scrambled up a rocky boulder nearby. They were the words that were exchanged between her and the man who wore her brother’s face.
"Then Prove yourself, Little Wolf."
Beneath the stone etched symbols of the Sactum of the Twelve the armored man had stood, his eyes bearing a darkness she did not recognize, his familiar visage twisted with contempt that did not belong there. It made her angry then---and it still riled her now.
"You will see I am no longer little."
The croc whirled about, the three mandibles of his maw wide open as the scalekin’s eyes searched for its prey. When it turned its head upwards, Roen leaped off from the apex of the boulder, her sword raised high above her head.
Roen wrinkled her nose as she lifted the matted rows of thick fur with the edge of her sword. Her lips curled with distaste as more flecks of dirt and ice fell to the ground loosened from its leathery coat and another pungent waft of odor greeted her senses. She gave a wide berth to what looked like some partially digested remains of some animal that had also dribbled out of its muzzle, her stride lengthening as she walked around the lifeless corpse. The paladin glanced over her shoulder to the rest of the remains that littered the hillside; her limbs were starting to grow heavier with fatigue. Her breaths came slower now, her earlier agitation having been burned off.
It was amidst a snowy bank like this where they had come upon another dead corpse many moons ago. She could still recall the expression of death on the Au Ra female’s face, the body speared through the chest and displayed out for all to see.
“Some agents of the Church stopped by Khadai’s inn room, looking for him.†Roen frowned as she recalled the conversation she had with Edda only a few suns past beneath the Fallguard’s canopy. “He was able to make an escape, though they are tenacious if nothing else. I am sure they will return.â€
The noblewoman had come to the North Shroud to tell the paladin that she had ended her contract with Khadai but to also bestow a warning. While Edda no longer held the Au Ra to any obligation, it was clear to Roen that she still worried for the warrior.
"Whatever unwarranted sense of justice that clouds their senses is beyond me. All I know is that they came looking for him." Her practiced smile never left the woman’s lips, but Roen could sense that the affair weighed on Edda’s mind. "Will you not return to Ishgard soon? Though there is nothing I can do for him, you may yet be able to."
Roen’s fingers lightly brushed her belt pouch as if to remind herself of a certain pearl there--one that she, Edda, and Khadai shared. The Xaela had not spoken over the linkshell about any troubles, although the paladin doubted that he would do so unless there was true mortal danger.
Would he ask for help even then?
A sharp exhale plumed into a puff of steam as Roen reached for the piece of cloth in her belt pouch. She shook her head as she ran the fold of the cloth over the length of her blade, as if to silently chide the absent warrior’s stubbornness.
But would I do any different? The paladin heard her own wry voice tsking at her. A sigh sagged her shoulders and she paused. Would I? Still?
"I know not what goes through that Hyur head of yours sometimes, and I have come to accept that your life has made you wary of some things. But I think you should know I consider you a sister. You can keep me at any length, and I doubt what I feel will ever be different."
A quiet snort escaped her lips as Kiht’s voice rose to memory. It was an honest and unsolicited confession, one that had surprised her and it made Kiht a little sheepish after the fact. Roen pursed her lips in thought, to push away any other expression that might have risen. This was not a good time to get sentimental after all. But the thought of seeing her again, as well as many others that she had come to find since coming to the Shroud, did not fill her with dread as it used to.
It was at the Keeper’s and Delial’s behest that Roen had come to Gridania, to try and help her brother who had lost his way. It was a task that Roen had long feared and resisted, but she finally came to admit that she could not hide in Coerthas forever from everyone and everything she knew.
But what of Khadai?
Roen sighed again as she sheathed her sword, staring at the bright moon above. He is capable. I have to trust in that. Was that not his own advice? Certainly he would not fault her for abiding by his counsel. But she could not deny that she felt a certain stir of disquiet in the back of her mind, one that would not be put to rest until she at least knew why the Church was seeking him out.
But first things first.
Roen turned toward Haldrath’s March, taking the southern path towards the Observatorium and eventually back to the North Shroud.
I need to see that Gharen is set to rights.
