Adult Responsibilities.

After years of preparation and planning, Nik's proving ceremony was finally only a few months away. This yearly rite-of-passage was a big deal for the whole clan, marking the ending of the summer, with the elders already setting up decorations for the festivities. If Nik was to compare it to anything in his old world, it would be like the Thanksgiving festival from his past life.

This was his year, where his generation finally entered adulthood, there was no concept of individual birthdays among the kyn, even Nik wasn't sure when exactly he was born on as no one bothered to commemorate such things, every kyn born that year were part of the same generation and, as such, were pretty much regarded as being the same age.

Interestingly enough, Nik had noticed something about kyn fertility; kyn mating season, the period of time when the women were at their most fertile and people were generally in heat, reached its yearly height around summer, and the following few months was when the most pregnancies would occur, so the births of the next generations marked the start of the new year in what Nik called the 'peak birth cluster'. Of course, there were always outliers born outside the cluster, like Nik, but they were a rarity. 

As the fated day crept ever closer, Nik decided to go and see his mother, realizing that he hadn't visited her in almost two years. As he walked up the path leading to her yurt, he wondered what she had been doing since he last saw her.

Crossing the threshold, he announced his arrival audibly, "Mom, it's me… are you in?" 

She walks out of another section of the yurt, holding a young toddler in her arms.

"Nik," she acknowledged with a surprised smile, "what are you doing here?"

"I, uh, wanted to come and see you," he answered honestly, then gesture to the baby in her arms "Congratulations,"

"Yes, your father comes to visit me every now and again. He may be the chief, but he's still my brother, still looking out for me." She said with a smile as she swaddles the toddler in her arms, "this is your sister, Ayla. She was born almost two years ago now."

She looked similar to Willa, with white skin and tufts of pale hair on her head, her horns were just two bumps on her forehead.

He wasn't sure if it's because he was on the eve of adulthood or because it's been a while since he saw her, but looking at Willa like this, Nik could see why his father would choose her for a wife, she was a fine woman, beautiful and caring, she had a certain homely sexiness to her. Dammit, seeing her in this way has gotten his libido riled up again. God, he needed to get laid before he went insane, even his own mother was starting to look good to him.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked pleasantly, "I was brewing some,"

"Uh, yeah, I would love a cup." he says, taking a seat on one of the cushions by the low dining table.

"Please hold Ayla for me while I go get it." she says, handing him the toddler, which he holds awkwardly, much to her amusement.

As Willa disappears towards the kitchen, Nik looks at Ayla's face. She stares at him with her big red eyes, then giggles. Her chubby face looks adorable as she gives a naive smile, patting his cheeks with her stubby fingers.

Not long afterwards, their mother came back with a tray holding two ceramic cups with steam billowing from them. she offers Nik one of the cup, which he graciously accepts, and she sits opposite him, retrieving her daughter.

"So how have you been?" she asks, before uncomfortable silence could fill the room.

"I've been good," he replied, taking a sip of the sweet tea, "Scarlet has taught me a lot, and I feel like I'm ready for the proving."

"That woman certainly knows how to train you to survive at least," Willa scoffs 

"Why do the two of you not like each other?" Nik asked

"She hasn't told you?"

Nik shook his head,

"It stems from her mother, Petra," Willa explains, "she and I had a… contentious relationship,"

"Scarlet doesn't mention her mother,"

"I don't see why she would, she's dead, and Scarlet blames me for it." Willa revealed,

"What happened?"

Willa heaves a reluctant sigh, "Petra Redgrave was different from any other person I'd ever known, she was an elf from the edge of the Neck, captured during a raid and given to my father as tribute." Willa continued, "She and Aran took a liking to each other almost immediately, and honestly, that made me a little jealous. I always assumed that she would return to her own people once she was granted her freedom, but when my father was overthrow and Aran took control, she became his first wife. Imagine my surprise.

"Now, the conditions around me becoming Aran's wife were… complicated, to say the least. You see, I'm also a special returner," she revealed "and my father sought to use me as a tool for his warped ambition of conquering the Gravelands, but Aran intervened before our father could exploit me, leading a coup against him with the elders and banishing him from the clan, but that is a different story. The important bit about that story is that Aran took me for himself before my father could, and once I became Aran's wife, Petra and I would argue and compete all the time; in cooking, in hunting, even when we laid with your father, everything was a contest between Petra and me, to see who was better. In a way she was my greatest rival, and my best friend." Willa sounded rueful as she recounted this tale, "One day, shortly before I became pregnant with you, Petra and I went out on a hunt, deep into her kind's territory, we encountered a group of human outsiders, poachers I think. They tried to ambushed us but we managed to escape, then they gave chase. We couldn't risk them following us to the village, so we ran deeper into the Gravelands, leading them away from the village and the clan. Somehow I lost them, but I also lost sight of Petra, so I reported back to the clan and we sent out a search party, we found signs of a struggle, but all we were able to recover was her bow. Scarlet never forgave me for leaving her mother on her own like that,"

Willa was trying hard not to sob at the end of the story, but Nik noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. Her stories were always very informative, when he was younger, she used to tell him tales from around the world that helped him gain knowledge of the state of the planet. But this current story had a different type of importance, it let him into the inner workings of her past, something he admittedly had never asked much about. He also suspected that the aged bow Scarlet liked to use must've belonged to her mother, a token of all she had left of her, he had thought it odd why a vanguard fighter used a ranged weapon. He hadn't expected Petra to be form another race that lives in the Gravelands, and that opened up even more questions in his mind about Scarlet. 

"Sorry you had to relive a painful memory," Nik apologized,

"It's alright," Willa sniffled, "it was a long time ago."

Ayla stirred in our mother's hand, and Willa immediately responded by pulling down the top of her dress and offering her nipple for the toddler to feed from. Nik took a moment to stare at her breasts, they weren't as full as Scarlet's but they were still rather a sight, with no sign of sagging.

Ayla gladly took her mother's teat into her mouth and Nik saw my mother give a slight shudder.

"Her teeth have started coming in," Willa explained, "it still hurts just as much as I remember; as a child you couldn't get enough of my milk,"

Nik chuckle a little as he remembered, he did love to suck on her tits in his youth, he would have loved to do it again, but back then it was seen as innocent, now it would just be weird. Maybe once he had his own wives.

"So how are things going with Scarlet?" Willa asked as she breastfed her daughter

"Alright," Nik shrugged, "she's done her best to prepare us for what's to come."

"Any other girls catch your eye?" She asked with a playful smirk

"Why?" he returned with a smirk of his own, "are you interested?"

"No," Willa smiled, "I'm quite happy with my life as is, I have your father, and I have this little miss,"

"She's beautiful," Nik acknowledged

"Don't set your sights on her until her own proving," Willa warned, "some men like to groom their wives while they're still young,"

"Don't worry," Nik shook his head, "I have no desire for that,"

"So you like older women, huh?" Willa teased,

"Well, I guess," Nik admitted

"I remember when you would come into my bed at night to suckle on my breasts, even when I had no milk," Willa chuckled, "goodness, you were such a lustful child… and you still are, from how your eyes keep drifting towards my breasts."

"Um, sorry, about that," Nik apologized

"Don't be," Willa urged, "such passion leads to many children, your father is like that, and I expect to be a grandmother before long."

Nik just chuckled. He considered his father with his mother, they lived such separate lives, even living in separately, yet Willa still loved Aran, and Aran also still favored Willa greatly. It led him to wonder why Willa lived so isolated from the rest of the clan, almost like she was a pariah. Did it have something to do with her being a special returner?

"You know," Willa cooed, "some clans believe it is a parent's duty to teach their child about the pleasures of the flesh,"

"What?" Nik's choked, choking on some the tea 

"Were you expecting that of me when you came here?" she asked with a sultry voice, leering at him, "Did you want me to teach you how to pleasure a woman?"

"Um, n-no… I wasn't… I mean, I didn't" Nik fumbled to get the right words out, then Willa laughed heartily at his flummoxed reaction

Nik joined in the laughter, finding the situation funny himself,

"Ah, I used to tease your father that way," Willa sighed, "You really are just like him,"

"Baba?" Ayla mumbles audibly

Nik and Willa chuckled some more.

"Have you spoken to your father recently?" Willa asked

"No," Nik replied, "I see him sometimes, but he's always busy with something."

"Well, you should go speak with him now," Willa advised, "he and the elders are having their weekly gathering, so it's the perfect time."

"Won't they be busy with the gathering?"

"Of course not," Willa scoffed, "nothing gets done during their gathering, they just do it so everyone will leave them alone."

Nik snickered,

"Seriously though," Willa said, her tone turning more serious, "you need to meet with your father and the elders before your proving, I'm sure they have things to discuss with you."

Nik studied her, the unease on her face was concerning, but it just highlighted that what she said was important.

"Alright, I'll go and see them once I'm done here." Nik nodded, "so let me spend a little more time getting acquainted with me new sister,"

He flashed a smile to little Ayla, who giggled in response.

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Following his mother's advice, Nik made his way from Willa's yurt at the far edge of the village to the meeting hall at the village square, the largest yurt in the village, inside the hall, sat the five elders of each caste along with the clan chief, Aran Ironhand. He was a beast of a man with metallic gray skin and a mane of ashen hair, his piercing red eyes were like smoldering pits of lava, with a scar that cut through his right brow, his four horns stood proud on his forehead and a barbed tail swayed lazily behind him, both were decorated with gold bands. The skin of his arms were scarred and cracked, wrapped haphazardly with gauze, probably had something to do with his blessing. At almost 40 years of life, he still looked in his prime. He was dressed in his usual robes with a ceremonial cloak draped over his shoulders, red with golden designs had been passed down from chief to chief for generations, and was as old as the clan. With him were the five caste elder that made up the clan's leadership along with the chief.

First was the oldest kyn in the clan, he was rumored to be well over two hundred years old, and had the most wives in the clan history, and all of them were his blood relatives; his sisters and daughters. Ironically, his name was Oedipus, and he was the elder of the spirit caste. Incidentally, he was the father of Nik's good friend, Yzma, who was more than likely to become his newest wife once she had gone through her proving. He looked ancient, with a face withered by time, a bald head with thick bushy eyebrows and a cartoonishly full beard, all white with age, his horns were like deer antlers, but looked dry and brittle, and his robes hung loose around his near skeletal frame. He serves as the head shaman of the clan, not just versed in all manner of kyn history and knowledge passed down from generations, but also a practitioner of arcane sorcery and high priest to the ancients.

Next to him was Shiva, the greatest warrior in the clan. Big, strong and intimidating as all hell, he was a deviant kyn, with a rare mutation as, after his proving he returned with four arms and two massive tusks instead of horns. He was the elder of the fire caste, and his skin was dark green and his long brown hair done in a braid. Rumor was that in the 50 years since he came to the village he had yet to take a second wife, much less even look at another woman despite the myriad of women who threw themselves at him to no avail. He was devoutly monogamous.

Beside Shiva was Kali, his wife and sister, an equally respected hunter, though she was the elder of the air caste, oddly enough. She shared his deviancy and was comparable to Shiva in strength, yet she was a lot more petite compared to the wall of muscles that was her husband. She was much more even tempered and measured. Even among the kyn, who regularly practice incest without much consequence, there are cases of some developing deviancy, which lead to evolutionary abnormalities after the proving. It was unknown whether deviancy was a result of genetic defect or some sort of arcane curse, but there were rumors that Shiva and Kali refused to have children for fear of passing down their tainted genes. 

Then there was the smith, Dagur Ironsbane, Nik's boss at the smithy and elder of the earth caste. He was in charge of the forging of all the weapons and tools used in the clan. He was a short man with a stout build, he looked almost like the fictional dwarves Nik pictured in the stories from his past life, except he had a single cone-shaped horn in the middle of his forehead. He was odd, he wasn't married and Nik suspected that he might be gay, but there was no way of knowing if such a concept was possible here.

The last member of the elder counsel was Kamila, she was one of Oedipus's wives and was the elder of the water caste, she was an apothecary and healer, in charge of everything from the making of medicinal potions and elixirs to the treating of injuries and infections. From the resemblance, she had to be Yzma's mother, though with how that family worked it was anyone's guess.

They all regarded Nik as he steps into the room, completely unannounced save for a quick toll of the wind chimes as he brushed past them.

"Father. Elders," Nik greeted, respectfully bowing his head before the group

"My son," his father regarded him with a curt nod. It was uncertain whether his father was upset or not because his tone was neutral and measured. The other elders eyed him as he stood before them.

"You intrude on a gathering of the elders, boy." Shiva said, his voice like gravel. "You show respect by announcing your presence before entering."

"I didn't know," Nik replied simply, giving a quick shrug of apology,

"Impertinence is the privilege of the young and foolish, Shiva. Which reminds me…" Oedipus said, turning to Nik, "Your proving next month, is it not?" Oedipus asks in a quiet hoarse voice. He looked so old and frail, how was such a man still able to impregnate so many women? He looked ready to keel over at any moment. It still baffled Nik.

"It is," he replied, "my mother advised me to come to speak with you, I believe it is in relation to that."

Oedipus rolled his eyes, and gave a look of disdain. He obviously had beef with Willa for some reason.

"Young Nik, for many years now, this council has taken special notice of you." Dagur informed him, "From a young age you showed a curiosity and understanding that was beyond the clan's ability to accommodate. It has long been believed, in every kyn clan, that every returner is a reincarnation of an ancestor, but you are different. We have all sensed that in you."

Nik tensed, they had actually been observing him without his notice? Did his mother know of this? Did Scarlet?

"There is prophecy of a child of destiny, spoken among the shamans of every clan," Oedipus said, "a great kyn born who would awaken unimaginable power from the ancients,"

"The last chief was obsessed with this prophecy," said Kamila, "he believed that he would be the one to fulfill it," said Kamila,

"And did he?" Nik asked

"No, although unnaturally powerful in his own right, he was not the one," Oedipus shook his head, "but his ambitions did not waver, he was convinced it would come from his bloodline."

"It was why he set his eyes on your mother, his daughter." Kamila continued, "He believed that he could bend the prophecy to his whims using her, thus gaining the ultimate power he so desired, but your father interfered in his plans and we believed his machinations to be thwarted… and then you were born."

"But I am my father's son." Nik argued

"No one doubts your parentage, but your existence had already had an impact, and that has not gone unnoticed." Dagur said, "Your mind works in a way even I cannot comprehend sometimes."

"However," Kali added, "wisdom can be a curse, and you are wise beyond your years. There are more than a few who believe you to be the monster Rinsler sought to bring forth into this world, borne of his bloodline, and would rather see you dead than ascend the mountains and fulfill his dark designs."

"I cautioned Aran about taking that woman as a wife, the elf was bad enough," Oedipus sneered, "and yet, even despite my many warning, he went and sired a child with her, twice."

Nik tensed, the old man was talking about his mother and sister, but his moment of fury was quenched by the immense killing intent he could feel from Oedipus. The old fossil was ready to kill him on the spot, and not just him. Nik eyes shifted to Shiva and Kali to his right, who were both exuding their own quiet killing intent, as if in warning.

"Enough." Aran said, quelling the bloodlust of the elders, "Nik, it is not secret that you are special –different from your mother, but similarly important— even before your proving. And while it is true that there are many who see you as a threat, there are also those that believe you to be a savior.

"While no one here can refute the benefit you could bring to the clan," Aran continued, "we cannot ignore the potential risks there are."

"What risks?"

"The risk that you may be cursed," Kali said, casting a side eye to Oedipus "Rinsler Starbane was also a shaman, quite adept at weaving curses. And as he was known to experiment on his daughter often…"

She let the rest go unsaid, but Nik understood the risk; they though he might be the result of one of the experiments that was done on his mother, or at the very least affected by these experiments. He honestly found the whole thing ridiculous, but chose not to voice his own opinions on this.

"So what can I do to assuage these fears?" Nik asked,

Aran sighed, "just like with deviancy, whatever might have been done to you will not become apparent until you have reached full maturity."

Oedipus added, "Once you return from your proving, I will judge the extent of your grandfather's influence on you, and if you are the threat I fear you are, you will then be executed."

Nik looked at his father, stunned. He was just told that his very life hinged not only on if he survived the proving or not, but now if he did make it back there was still a very good chance they would just kill him if he was judged to be a threat whatever that meant. How was he supposed to accept this? How was this any fair?

"How will you know?" Nik asked, his voice measured and hollow, "how will you know if I am as tainted as you fear?"

"A person's true nature is easily discernible after their proving," Oedipus said, "had I been allowed to act back then, we could have prevented Rinsler's rise to power before it even began. It is for that reason that I cannot allow another Rinsler Starbane to emerge. But know this; whatever fate awaits you, you will have the greatest honor and respect from us elders."

Having their honor and respect seemed like a cold comfort after being told they were preparing to kill him as soon as he came back from his climb. Before, Nik had seen the elders as everyone saw them, as great and esteemed leaders, figures to venerate and respect, but Nik never saw them as such. Maybe it was his bias from remembering his past life and an actual goddess, but he knew these people were just as flawed as the rest of them. He saw the truth, beyond all their platitudes and grandeur they were afraid of the ghost of his grandfather. How bad has this Rinsler guy been during his time?

"What would happen if I am judged innocent of your fears?" Nik found himself asking.

The elders hesitated, as if not expecting such a question.

"Should that be the case then you will be announced as my official successor." Aran said

The elders looked at him in shock and surprise

"Are you sure?" Dagur asked

"With the level of burden we have placed on his shoulders, this is the least I can offer my son should he prevail."

"I thought you were going to elect Scarlet?" Kamila said

"She is a worthy choice," Shiva noted, "but she is not made for the mantle of leadership,"

"The child of an elf slave leading our proud clan?" Oedipus spat, "Preposterous!"

"Enough of such talk," Shiva snapped, glaring at Oedipus, "you speak of our chief's first wife, old man." 

"I will lead the boy back outside," Kamila offered, rising as Shiva, his wife, and Oedipus devolved into a heated argument among themselves. Dagur took his leave as well, leaving Aran to watch his son walk away, his eye unreadable.

As they left the structure, Kamila spoke to him,

"Apologies if we scared you in there," she said softly, "these are abnormal times indeed. But if it's all the same, I believe you are a catalyst for great change, positive change."

"But Oedipus seems to really want me dead either way," Nik noted

"Change scares the old," Kamila sighed, "my father is many things, and paranoid is chief among them. Ever since Rinsler, he fears that which he cannot understand nor control, especially outliers, like Scarlet, you, or even our own daughter."

"You mean Yzma?" Nik asked, glad he had been right in his assumption.

"She has been very vocal to opposition to our father's insular ideals," Kamila said, "Oedipus blames your influence on her for that,"

"May I ask a personal question?" Nik found himself asking

Kamila turned to him, curiously, "what?"

"Why does he only take his own daughters as his wives?" Nik asked, "and how come he has only ever had daughters?"

"Inquisitive little thing, aren't you?" she said

"My curiosity does get piqued easily," Nik admitted

"Are you sure you weren't just jealous?" Kamila asked, "I know of many males who would love to have a harem like my father,"

"Even for us, the risk of deviancy is higher when only drawing from a singular bloodline." Nik commented, "Some have said that it is somehow related to his blessing and the secret behind his longevity,"

Kamila chuckled, "they would say that, wouldn't they? Even we aren't that knowledgeable about it. I suspect that it is some sort of sorcery, and is somehow related to why any of my sisters have never birthed any living sons,"

"Living sons?"

"Yes, many of my past sisters have birthed boys before," she revealed, not hiding her disgust, "but they were all stillborn, while all the daughters are healthy and fruitful, ripe to continue this cycle of his."

She then eyed him curiously, "it is indeed mysterious how you could pry this information from me without much effort,"

"I've been told that I have a gift for learning things," Nik said, which was true… just not in this lifetime. As long as he wanted to know something, he always found a way to end up learning it, it was why he was so successful in business.

"You are very curious indeed," Kamila smirked, "I can see why my daughter is so interested in you." She then turned serious, "I do not speak for your father, but I believe he also has great expectations of you,"

"He didn't seem very sad at the prospect of executing me," Nik commented

"My father has never been a big fan of your mother," Kamila said, "once your grandfather was exiled, he demanded she be executed as a precaution. Your father was the first to challenged him on that. Your father may not show it, but he cares for you and your new sister. He protects you in his own way."

Nik sighed, he didn't know whether he believed what she said, but it was a comforting notion all things considered.

The next day, Nik met up with Scarlet and the others at the edge of the village, and they set out on their regular excursions into the surrounding forests beyond the valley. Not far from the village they passed one of the obsidian monoliths that marked the boundary of the village wards, and as younglings, they weren't allowed to go past it.

"Word of advice," Scarlet started, "past this point you're at the mercy of the mountains. Your first instinct would probably be to split up, and while that is not a bad idea, you should remember that you can work together until you get up the slopes."

"But isn't that cheating?" Kite asked

"Well, no one's ever said you can't do that," Scarlet winked, "so I like to think of it as thinking outside the box."

"Yeah," Lok said, "I see what you're saying, bending the rules to your advantage"

While the others laughed, Nik approached his half-sister,

"Hey, Scarlet, can we talk?" he asked, "In private?'

She looked at him curiously, then nodded.

"Alright you little hellions," she said, "entertain yourselves while I go attend to some business with Nik,"

"Why are you giving Nik special treatment?" Wen demanded

"Because I like him better than the rest of you," she said bluntly, "I thought that was obvious by now?"

With that, she gestured past some bushes. Once they were out of earshot from the others she smiled at him.

"What's on your mind?" She asked calmly,

"How did you know I had something on my mind?"

"My impeccable powers of observation are second to none, it's one of my most valued qualities." she boasted smugly, "Also, you've been oddly silent since we left the village, you haven't even been ogling my ass like you usually do when we go for a hike. What's up?"

Nik gave a slight chuckle, then he told her what had happened at his meeting with the elder council, which she took with a deepening scowl,

"So, if you make it back and that old fart judges you tainted, they kill you?" she sneered, "I never did like Oedipus, but now I have a justified reason to really hate him. Thank you for that."

"I don't know what to do," Nik said honestly, "They got in my head and now I'm starting to have doubts. What if Rinsler Starbane did do something to me? What if I am tainted and just don't know it?"

"What if you turn into a woman after your proving and get deflowered by Merilk?" Scarlet added, "what if you get eaten by a wyvern the next time you come up here? There are a lot of what ifs out there, don't let them get in your mind." Scarlet said, "I didn't take you for the self-doubting type."

"I don't have self-doubt," Nik assured, "I'm every bit as self-assured that I am me and no one else. But I have a feeling Oedipus isn't going to let a a walking anomaly like me just live, especially after whatever happened between him and Rinsler."

"He can barely walk straight, and you'll be fresh from your proving," Scarlet scoffed, "and even if he could put up a fight against you, I wouldn't let him kill my Nik."

"I don't think you get a say in it," Nik sighed, "he seems to hate you only partially less than me."

"I'm one of the village's best warriors," Scarlet said, "they damn well give me a say in this."

She lit her walking stick on fire to prove her point.

"I can't believe I'm having this conversation." Scarlet sighed, "it's hard to imagine that six-year-old kid whose ass I soundly kicked that one night has gotten so mature."

"You say that with so much pride, yet you were literally twice my size at the time." he defended

"Well, you've certainly grown up since then." she commented, sizing him up. In the seven years they'd known each other, he had grown tall, and now even stood several inches taller than her. He was still very lean though, his time at the smithy had sculpted his body but he wasn't as muscular as Wen or some of the other apprentice smiths, which made him look lanky by comparison. Looking in a mirror, he realized that he looked almost identical to his old appearance in his old world, with the exception of his kyn characteristics. 

"What do you think?" He asked, seeking her advice

"Well, avoiding getting killed immediately after your proving is obviously the goal here, I mean, should that happen our father will declare you as his successor, that would be even better than getting a Champion's Blade." Scarlet said,

"I haven't let that part sink in yet," Nik sighed, "I always pictured it would be another one of our other siblings that became chief after our father steps down. I don't even know what being chief even means."

"What? You never considered I would take over as chief?" Scarlet accused, feigning offense

"You didn't seem the type to be interested in that," Nik retorted

"Tell you what; since all these high stakes seem to be messing with that head of yours, I'll keep it simple for you; if you make it back and survive the elders, I have a special reward to give you."

"What kind of reward?" Nik asked her, suddenly curious

She just winked at him, "It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, now would it?"

"What are you two talking about over here?" Lok demanded popping out from the bushes

"That's between me and my favorite disciple," she smirked, "and that just riles you up, doesn't it? I could be telling him secrets on how to pass his proving faster than the rest of you, or I could be planning a conspiracy against the elders, you'll never know. Mwahahahaha!"

Nik sighed, "geez, you love to exaggerate."

"It's why you love me," she beamed, ruffling his hair. "what am I talking about? Everybody loves me; I'm the most lovable person in the entire Gravelands."

Some nights later, Nik was awoken by Scarlet scrambling around in the dark. With the benefit of night vision, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark, where he could see just enough to witness a naked Scarlet struggling to pull up her leather breeches over her round rump, cursing as she hopped around.

"Huh, what's going on?" he asked rubbing his eyes as he sat up on his futon.

She turned to face him, unashamed to be caught naked. "Hey, sorry, didn't mean to wake you," she said softly as she managed to pull her tunic over her torso.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she started to put on her light armor.

"The elders have summoning all the fire-caste warriors," she explained, "outsiders were spotted in our territory."

Outsiders, a spot-on descriptor for any person coming from outside the Gravelands. Their clan was located in a region known as the Neck, a vast area where the peninsula connected to the main continent. Typical outsiders were usually elven hunting parties, or the occasional brave traders who wanted to do business with the denizens of the Gravelands. Most were generally just observed and avoided, left to wander the dense forests without ever finding the village due to the sorcery of the shamans. Nik had heard stories of foolish human soldiers who would try to claim Gravelands through force, only to be repelled by the kyn. 

"Can I come?" Nik asked, he had never seen outsiders before.

She looked at him as she fastened her breastplate into place,

"It's going to be very dangerous," She cautioned

"I can handle myself," He said back confidently

She paused, considering it, "Alright, let's see what you got?"

Not long after, Nik was dressed and putting on his own leather armor. While Scarlet took her bow and quiver, Nik armed himself with a new piece of equipment he had made a few weeks back; a crossbow. It was a prototype he had designed from the initial concept with a few new world alterations. This would be his first combat test for his creation and he couldn't help but be excited because of it.

They left the yurt and proceeded towards the main gathering point by the village entrance, where the other fire-caste warriors were assembled, at the head of the gathered group, were the elders, all donned in battle attire. Nik noted how the armor of each of the elders had been painted with the color for their respective caste; like Shiva being red, or Kali being yellow, though Aran didn't have any color.

"Our scouts spotted several groups of humans near our borders earlier this evening, they crossed into our territory about an hour ago. While it is unlikely they will find the village that easily, they have mages with them, so they may have a way around our shamans." Aran said

"We cannot risk them finding our home, so we will also break up into ambush teams to intercept them," Shiva instructed, "each team will be given a zone to cover, once you've found their position, observe your targets, then engage, capture their leaders alive if you can." 

"Drive them off where you can, kill them if you must, but ensure to capture as many alive as you can manage." Oedipus ordered, "Spoils of war can be gathered and distributed afterwards."

"Stay by me, okay" Scarlet whispered to Nik as she grabbed his hand, interlocking her fingers with his. Her tail swished back and forth excitedly but Nik could feel the slight tremor in her hand, and her quickened pulse through their contact. She was nervous for some reason.

"Everything okay?" he asked

"I'm a little excited," she confessed, "I've been on several battles with other tribes before, but this is the first time we've mobilized in force against outsiders, I've never faces outsiders in combat before,"

Like the other hunters, Scarlet had a collection of knives strapped to her belts, but her main weapon was the bow. Her Champion's Blade was strapped to the small of her back.

Nik nodded at her as their group set out into the forest. He would be lying if he said he also didn't feel a rush of excitement, after all; this was his first real battle.

Their warrior group took to the trees, running along the treetops and jumping from branches with practiced ease and grace, preferring the vertical advantage over their earth-bound adversaries. They soon found their quarry; a gathering of human soldiers huddled around a makeshift campsite at the edge of their territory. 

Nik counted about thirty or so humans in this group, there was probably more who had already turned in for the night to rest while some others kept watch. Observing these people for a while, it was obvious that they had come looking for a fight, as they were well armed with swords and what looked to be early-style flintlock rifles, there were about a dozen of them that wore elaborate robes and carried staves, those must've been their mages. Nik wondered how different their sorcery was from what the kyn shamans practiced.

After about half an hour of silent observing, Scarlet, their group leader, gave the signal to attack, and they moved in. First, they took out those on lookout, a few well-placed shots dropped them in seconds, however, they must not have gotten all of them, as someone was able to ring an alarm bell. Fortunately, since most of the platoon had been resting, their response was sluggish, making them easy prey for the kyn ambush.

With their raid now in full swing, more than a few humans had shaken off the initial shock of their ambush and had begun their counterattack. Scarlet proved why she was chosen as the leader of this squad. Her hands were alight like two blazing torches, setting anything and anyone she touched alight, and sending the stumbling humans into a disorganized panic. Nik was pretty sure a few of those burning tents still had people inside them, he put a few out of their misery with a few crossbow bolts. Oddly, he felt no sympathy for their plight nor remorse for leaving them to their fate, he didn't find it hard to kill these humans. It was simply the way of life; either kill or be killed.

One of the mages chanted a quick incantation and then conjured a rather large fireball from his staff that he directed at Scarlet, for all the good that did him. The flames washed over her, enveloping her form for a moment, burning her clothing, but leaving her body barely singed. Nik's crossbow bolt found its way into his eye before he even has time to comprehend her immunity to fire.

"Are you alright?" He demanded as he watched her bat at her smoldering clothes.

"Of course I'm fine, my blessing makes me immune to all flames," she sighed, "unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my clothes. I'm running out of things to wear, soon enough I'll be walking around naked."

"I wouldn't have a problem with that," Nik shrugged

She chuckled at him, then turned to another warrior who came to meet with her

"What's the status of the battle?" she demanded

"We should be just about done here soon," the warrior responded, surveying the area, "we've suffered some casualties, but morale is high,"

"Good," she said stifling a yawn, "so I can get back to sleep soon."

The battle was a quick and brutal affair, and while the humans had put up a valiant fight, the outsiders were handily defeated. Their raid was all-in-all a success. They had driven most of them from their camp, scattering them into the night, where they were now at the mercy of the Gravelands. They'd managed to kill a number of them, and captured at least two dozen or so, whom they now had secured by the smoldering remains of their camp. The kyn had suffered minor casualties, with only four dead, while the rest sported gnarly injuries they boasted would make great battle scars. Nik could only imaging that the other raiding parties were equally successful, without any sort of long-distance communications they were pretty much on their own out here. 

With the outsiders captured, Nik finally got my first proper look at them. he'd gotten so used to living among kyn that he'd almost forgotten that they were freakishly tall, compared to the humans, who seemed small and feeble by comparison.

"What do we do now?" he whispered to Scarlet as they looked at the dozens of prisoners they now found themselves with.

"We take them back to the village," Scarlet said, "see what the elders can do with them,"

"You savage devils!" one of them spat loudly. It was one of the mages, a woman who looked in her early thirties with a brown hair and green eyes.

As he turned his attention to the woman, he noticed that next to her was a young elf girl, she looked maybe in her late teens or early twenties by human standards --though for elves that could be misleading--, her skin was fair and her hair was light green with solid yellow eyes and elongated ears. Nik had noticed her earlier when they were observing the enemy camp, she had followed this mage around dutifully, like an assistant or a servant. She was dressed rather modestly, but she had a thick collar around her neck, a slave collar.

Nik was aware that elves and kyn shared ancestry, they shared a similarity in appearance, taller than humans with three digits on each hand like the kyn, however, she had humanoid legs and no tails, she also had no horns on her head. Funnily enough, elves looked like a mix between human and kyn.

This mage looked at them with utter contempt, continuing to scream insults and curses at them, while her elf slave meekly shied away from his gaze.

Scarlet crouched down to be at eye-level with the kneeling prisoner, "You call us savage, why? Because we stole into your camp at night and raided you before you could do the same to us?"

"Your kind is a blight on the purity of the Guiding Light," the mage sneered, "you are nothing but inferior barbaric devils only fit to be purged from this world."

"Well, we shall see, won't we?" Scarlet said, getting up

"Who's this Guiding Light she spoke of?" Nik asked Scarlet

She just shrugged in response, "Who knows; must be one of their new rulers or whatever. I can never understand human raving." she then turned to the others, "Alright, let's move them out."

As they proceeded from their ruined campsite, Nik noticed how pretty the elf was, her robes were freeing but also quite form-fitting and he was able to tell that she had a nice body. His hormonal adolescent body reacted at the sight and scenarios flashed uncontrollably across his mind. Damn you, puberty.

Apparently she noticed him leering at her and shied away, unfortunately that made her bump into her mage master, who just shoved her away.

"Useless thing." she spat, "this is all your fault!"

"I-I didn't…" the elf's voice trembled

"You were supposed to guide us," her master continued to rage, "that was why I bought you in the first place."

The elf was now sobbing, her master looked at her in disgust

"I hope these devils rape you, for all the gold you cost me." she spat

At that point, Nik couldn't listen any more, so he got between them,

"Hey, stop talking or I'll have you gagged." he said, looking as threatening and imposing as he could muster. He wasn't actually sure if he could have her gagged,

She spat at him, literally hurled a glob of saliva right at his face, "you sicken me," she said, "I hope to be there when the divine judgement of the Guiding Light rains down on you unholy heathens."

All of a sudden the mage whimpered as a sharp bone white blade came to rest against her throat.

"Right now I'm being very generous by not killing you for the insult you've displayed to my Nik," Scarlet sneered, right behind her, "now you are going to walk in silence for the remainder of out trip, and if I hear another peep out of you I will boil your tongue while its still in your mouth. Am I understood?"

She just nodded silently then Scarlet shoved the mage forward to follow the other prisoners, leaving Nik and the elf slave behind.

"So, taking in interest in a war slave?" she asked

"No, just never seen an elf slave before,"

"Believe me, they're common enough," Scarlet scowled at the slave collar.

With a quick slick of her wrist, her Champion's blade struck the collar, shearing through the material like paper, but also leaving only a cut up the elf's neck to her jaw.

"H-how did you do that?" the elf demanded, "that collar was enchanted."

"So is my blade," Scarlet said, "my enchantments better it seems,"

"What will you do to me?" the elf asked with trepidation.

Scarlet looked at Nik and they seemed to have a whole quiet conversation with just an exchange of glances.

"Get out of here," Nik said, "we already have all these other prisoners, no one's going to miss one more. There are elven settlements further east of here, maybe you can get help there."

"R-really?"

"You heard the boy," Scarlet snapped, "now get lost before I change my mind."

The elf gave them a look of appreciation before darting into the forest and was out of sight within moments.

"Are we going to get into trouble for that?" Nik asked

"Only if they find out," Scarlet shrugged. "pity though,"

"What was?"

"You missed your chance to get your own elf servant," Scarlet teased "our father was about your age when he met my mother."

"I know," Nik sighed, "and I was thinking about all the sex I could have with her as well."

"Ugh, you boys are all the same," Scarlet said rolling her eyes, "put a pair of breasts in front of you and you forget everything else, it's so crazy."

"Huh, what did you say? I stopped listening after you said 'breasts'," he joked. She then elbowed him in the side, "I can't help it if I'm a healthy hot-blooded male?"

"A little too healthy if you ask me," Scarlet said, "you think about having sex with almost every girl you meet, don't you?"

"I haven't thought of having sex with you, though," Nik teased back

"Now I know you're lying," She smirked, "every male in the village has thought of having sex with me." she slapped her ass for emphasis, "and you're the only one who gets to see the goods daily."

"Well, every male in the village don't spend every moment of every day with you, but I do," He said, "It kind of loses the appeal when I can see you whenever I want."

"So you're saying I'm not sexy?" Scarlet pouted, batting her eyelashes at him

Nik avoided looking at her, knowing that if he laid eyes on her in that moment, she'd break him. That didn't stop her from pestering him. 

For the rest of the journey, they walked in silence.