The Death of a Village  

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 As Tallonkai sat in his chamber, he felt a subtle shift in nature around him. And like a bad dream, it echoed in his mind. Concerned about what it could mean, he looked out his window to the sight of dark smoke rising above the inner trees! With a bad feeling, he saw Lanthios running into the village! 

Smelling a hint of blood in the air, Tallonkai squinted his eyes as he watched Lanthios hurriedly speak to one of the guards outside. Not one to care about thematic, Tallonkai rushed out of his chambers when his vision changed to a village on fire! He could see the screams on the villager's faces! And he could touch the fire that rages… he felt the anger in the furbog eyes as they killed! 

As hopeless villagers were mauled to death before his eyes, he saw nature's sadness, and felt the spirits around boiling with inner turmoil! But what broke his heart the most, was seeing children beg for his help, their tiny arms reaching for him in the vision as if they could see him, as if he was there! As if he could help them… only to have their blood splatter onto his face for his inability to act! 

With his own rage reaching a point, Tallonkai transformed into a bear and roared his frustration into the air! Breaking him out of the vision like a bad memory, but not before seeing the faces of those responsible for sacking an innocent village! 

Lanthios POV 

As Lanthios hurried to Tallonkai residents, he was suddenly stopped at the door by Athridas. About to ask why, Athridas stopped him by speaking first: 

[Hold! Lanthios… why does the smell of blood hang over you? Did something happen to Shaya?] 

But as the words were stuck in Lanthios's mouth, the town of Dolanaar shook with the voice of a roar! Frighten, the people of the town looked into Tallonkai manor, to see a bear filled with resentment! As air twirled around Tallonkai, he turned himself back into a man! With eyes that conceal a hurricane, Tallonkai orders all available guards to follow him to Starbreeze! 

The sentinels and the ancient grove guardians didn't question Tallonkai's order and prepared for war, but as Lanthios appealed his position to help, they denied him! 

[I know you are eager to help young ones, but this is our war!] replied Tallonkai with seriousness 

{our? Am I not included in that 'our'? Have I yet to prove myself to you? Or is it because you don't see me as one of you?} question back Lanthios with squinted eyes 

[that is not what I meant! And you know it! What I meant, was that this is not a fight for children to involve themselves in! Now listen to me and stay here! Someone has to stay behind and guard the one who can't fight here after all...] replied Tallonkai with a wink. 

Backing away from Tallonkai, Lanthios ignored him and went to ask Laurna if he could tag along with her with the excuse of helping the injured. 

[sigh, did you get permission from Tallonkai to tag along?] replied Laurna with her hands on her hips 

{he said I couldn't fight, but he didn't say I couldn't help the injured!} replied Lanthios with a smile at the exhausted face of Laurna. 

[besides, you can always use another healer! I promise not to get in the way and only stay in the back! How does that sound?] continued Lanthios 

{ugh… fine just stay in the back with me where I can keep an eye on you! Also, your friend is not allowed to come!} replied Laurna with a facepalm 

{why not? She is a great rogue! Look I promise I'll look after her! She will only stay by my side to protect me in the shadows!} cried Lanthios with puppy eyes. 

Studying Cetrisa up and down, Laurna had a suspicious look in her eyes as she looked at her… but as she was about to ask some much-needed questions, Cetrisa suddenly vanished in place! 

{sorry about that Laurna… she kind of shy when it comes to meeting new people…} said Lanthios as a form of a lame excuse. 

Knowing Lanthios was probably hiding something, it was Laurna's turn to squint her eyes and say: 

[All right she can come, but if she has permission from her family that is…] 

To this, Lanthios could only shake his head as he said: 

{she is an orphan like me now… Her parents were killed out in the forest…They were… killed by the furbog… if you want me to be more specific… I don't know all the details…. I didn't ask and it didn't look like she was ready to talk about it yet…} replied Lanthios sad puppy eyes 

To this, Cetrisa looked at Lanthios weirdly because she knew what he just said was a lie! But in the end, she just went with it as it was probably more believable than the story, she had told him when they met. 

[I see... But then do you know her parent's names at least? I would like to at least offer up my prayers for them to Elune.] replied Laurna through one eye. 

To this, Lanthios looked Laurna dead in the eye and said: 

{I don't know… again I didn't ask, after all, it's none of my business… I believe she'll tell me when the time is right… but for now. All I know is her name and that without her help… Shaya would probably be dead about now. Look you can ask her to vouch for her skills if you don't believe me.} 

Though Laurna found this all suspicious she couldn't find fault in Lanthios' words and was curious as to why he was so adamant about her coming… 

[maybe he has reached that part of his life… I mean she is quite cute…] thought Laurna to herself as she could see Cetrisa even in stealth. 

[fine… she can tag along, just make sure Tallonkai doesn't find out!] said Laurna giving up with her hands in the air. 

War: 

With cheery smiles, the pair left to ride behind Laurna's group of saber tigers, and while they sat there excitedly, the owls came to give out their blessing with their scouting, for the warband was now ready to move onto Starbreeze! 

With ancient titans, the trees and the earth trembled at their steps! While the grasses waned at the growls of the saber tiger! With armor that jingled in the wind, the sentinels readied their curved moon blades! With warpaint showcasing their specialty, the night elves were furious at the sight they saw as they rode over the hills… 

A village on fire, and an army of furbog that was so lost to their frenzy that they had lost sight of the vision around them! Seeing this sight in front of him, Tallonkai wasn't much for a speech of encouragement, he simply said in the voice of a roaring bear: 

[GO!] 

With smoke and ash and the windy breeze, the furbog desecrated the dead! As they devoured the bodies with their snouts or chomped down the limbs of children! Monster lost in their corruption! Were taken by surprise as the saber tigers jumped at their throats! As the blades of a curving moon bisected them in many directions! 

As the forest drank up their blood, the leading furbogs roared like one! The three leaders charged head-first with their army to meet the night elves in combat! But the furbog was a clumsy race, weak in knowledge and in skill, behind in technology and advancements, and weak are their spells! 

It wasn't even a fight! Nor could one call it a war… it was only bloodshed on a scale not seen in a long time on Teldrassil's peaceful branches… The satyrs laughed at the sight and even enjoyed the show in the dark, while Cetrisa couldn't help but smile at the smell of spilled iron… where her lower regions were getting a little too excited… with dagger itching for a go, she took a sneak peek at Lanthios and wondered what he would do… 

And he did not disappoint! Though he was on the back end of the fighting, he would sneak in a smite or two, or he tossed a heal now and then, but what made Cetrisa smile, was that Lanthios would purposely piss off some of the furbog for her to kill! And she appreciated it as her daggers drove deep into their white fur… she very much loved the sight of blood escaping their mouths… or the sight of fear as she tore out their eyes! 

She loved the funny noise they made as she aimed at their genitals through their saggy loincloth! With a cute laugh that sounded like it came from a devil, Lanthios just let her enjoy herself, after all, he too was having fun! He enjoyed watching gruesome wounds close as his spells healed his allies, even more so as the elf fought in questionable armor that revealed more than it should… 

The only saddening thing was, that he spent more time healing the surviving villagers than he would have liked, but he had to play his part or risk pissing off Laurna! But then, that was when he heard it! A scream coming from the center manor of the village! Looking around, he noticed that no one else had heard it, or could bother with it, as they were either slaughtering the furbog or tending to the escapees… And with Tallonkai locked in a three-way battle, Lanthios decided it would be best if he went to check it out himself! 

As he approached the door to the manor, the floor was covered in fresh blood that laid a trail, the broken windows and destroyed art told their story, as Lanthios peeked in to see a massive white furbog, whose fur now rested in a scarlet red! Dripped in throbbing veins and eyes that spiraled in a yellow circle, the furbog tore away at an elf's guts while he yet still lived! 

Screaming for help, the man begs for his life… he begs Elune for grace… grace that never came… As his intestines strung from the furbog mouth, Cetrisa saw her opportunity… she took out her sword and waited patiently behind the furbog's back… and when the time was right, she stabbed it through the back of its head... Right through its mouth! 

The sudden strike proved effective as the furbog bowed it's head in death, but as Cetrisa was about to celebrate her kill, Lanthios suddenly placed a bubble around her and called forth his holy fire onto the corpse of the furbog!

With righteous fire, the furbog got up and roared as it punched Cetrisa away! As Cetrisa was thrown from the back of the furbog, the creature, put its hands on its head as it screamed in tremendous pain! With the pain out came corrupted tentacles like that of an old god! 

Panicking at the sight, Lanthios, cast spells of all kinds trying to kill it fast, but to no avail… the furbog didn't budge from the attacks! With light scars and fur on fire, the furbog roared out bundles of blood and charged at Lanthios! 

Seeing the bear coming, Lanthios cast all matter of life-saving skills that he had on himself, but even with all of them, Lanthios couldn't suspect that the tentacles on the furbogs body would cast their own version of mind fury! 

Shocked and slowed, with a body unable to fully move, Lanthios braced himself to take on the full impact of the furbog charge! Praying that his bubble would take on the majority of the furbogs weight! Now, Cetrisa seeing Lanthios in trouble quickly tossed her blade right at the back side of the furbog right leg! 

Impaling it and tripping the beast up, right at the most crucial moment! For as the furbog hit Lanthios, tossing him outside the building, it noticed that it wasn't able to kill its prey and that its prey only rolled a few feet and lost its divine protection! 

Injured and dirty, Lanthios stood up to see the furbog yank out Cetrisa's sword from its leg with a growl as blood poured from the wound! Angry at the sudden attack the furbog turns to look at Cetrisa with an evil grin! As more tentacles popped from its back, while its leg turned into that of a crab claw! 

While positioning himself for a fight, Lanthios felt a nudge on his back! Turning around he saw something that terrified him more than the furbog….Cynthia's