The morning sun was starting to creep over the horizon, as the sky began to lighten through the clouds. The trio had managed to make amazing time, they had already made it to the other side of the massive lake that acted as the final barrier for the Coast and were deep in the surrounding woods. Thoren’s eyes fought to stay open, they had been riding hard for the whole night without rest. That, coupled with the fact that he had had to use chantless miracles twice in as many days meant that he was on the verge of collapsing. Even the summoned steed he rode on was starting to fade, it wouldn’t be long until he fell out of the saddle.

  Even as the thought crossed his mind he slumped forwards and started to fall off his mount. A scaled hand caught him and propped him back in place. The monstrosity in the garb of a holy man turned its unblinking bloodshot eyes to regard him. “Holy brother, you are unwell. You need rest. If you would like, I could take the reins of your steed for a bit while you close your eyes.” The gentle voice that came from the thing was off putting, it almost tricked you into thinking they were a normal man, if the voice didn’t originate from the things gills.

  Thoren sat up and shook the hybrid's hand off. “I will make due; and do not call me your ‘brother’, you dirty the word when you speak it.” He said coldly.

  Phi cocked his head. “My apologies oh great one. I would never consider myself your equal, I misspoke. I am well aware that in the eyes of the All Mother I am a blight upon her splendid children. Perhaps this pilgrimage will finally afford me the opportunity to give my life in her service!” As he spoke about casually dying in service to a god that didn’t care about him he sounded almost excited.

  Thoren opened his mouth to ask him further but was interrupted by the leader of their little ‘pilgrimage’. Fel had been running at their inhuman pace for the whole night without pause, now they were finally slowing, holding their fist up to signal the other two to come to a stop. Thoren and Phi came to a halt just before them. Fel looked back at them, a smirk on their face. “I honestly didn’t think you two would last, well, congrats. We will stop here for a few hours to get some rest, when we continue we will be doing so on foot. No more horses.”

  Relief washed over Thoren as he dismounted, his body was stiff and sore as he tried to stretch out his numb limbs. He placed a hand on the head of the summoned steed, thanking it for its service as he dismissed it. Glancing over he saw Phi’s steed collapse to the ground. The poor thing had been pushed past its limits by the hybrid’s taboo magicks. Its eyes were rolled back in its head, foam spilling from its mouth. Phi for his part seemed genuinely remorseful for the beast, placing his clawed hand on the horse's head.

  “Rest now. Be at peace.” Phi spoke softly as he pulled a dagger from his waist, as he held the blade above the horse's chest he hesitated for a moment before plunging the dagger into the beast's heart. The frantic panting of the horse finally came to a rest. Phi lowered his head to touch the horse’s.

  “I’m sorry.” As he stood he raised a hand over the horse, his head turned towards Thoren. “You may wish to avoid your eyes. This can be a bit unseemly.”

  When a six and a half foot tall fish man that survives on blood tells you something will be hard to watch, it would be wise to take his word. Thoren turned his back to prepare a place to get some much needed rest. Ignoring the sounds of flesh warping and tearing. Curiosity got the better of him as he snuck a quick glance.

  The horse was floating in the air, all of its blood draining into Phi’s waiting maw, the different layers of muscle and bone began to break apart in segments. The skin peeled back in long strips, tendons unwound and grew loose, steam rose as the heat from within the beast was released into the crisp morning air. The scene was horrific and mesmerizing, the horse was being ripped into cross sections of different materials with ease.

  Thoren snapped his head forward. If he watched any longer he might have to swear off meat for the rest of his life.

  He put down his cloak as a blanket, it would be uncomfortable but hopefully with how bone tired he was he could still manage a bit of sleep. As he laid down he could still hear the fleshcraft of Phi, dreading the dreams that would come with such background noise. Memories of last night threatened to keep him awake, but his exhaustion won out.

  Oddly, as he finally teetered on the edge of sleep, it was Tayla’s pale face that crossed his mind as he faded into a dreamless slumber,

  A boot nudged Thoren awake. He struggled to open his eyes, his body was demanding he continued his much needed rest for another day or two at least. Fighting the urge to go back to sleep he rolled over and looked up. Fel stood above him. They, for their part, looked well rested and ready for another day of running at terrifying speeds. “How long has it been?” He asked.

  Without looking down Fel answered casually. “About 3 hours, that should give you enough strength to make it to a real bed by nightfall.”

  Thoren struggled to stand as he processed what they said. A ‘real bed’, that didn’t make any sense, the nearest city was Fulcrest, normally that was a four day trip from the Coast. The distance wasn’t the issue, it was the fact that one had to take a winding path to avoid several large obstacles.

  Unless.

  “Wait, do you mean for us to cut through the Fae lands?” Thoren said.

  Fel glanced down with a cocked eyebrow. “Where do you think we are now?”

  His eyes went wide as he looked around. He had been so exhausted that it hadn’t occurred to him that the only forest near the Black Coast was a part of the Fae lands. “Why would you take us through a cursed forest of the Fae! If one of the spirits finds us trespassing we will be forced to wander till we die from exhaustion! Or worse, transformed into a bloodthirsty beast!” He hissed the words as he frantically tried to spot anything amiss in the woods.

  To his surprise Fel laughed in response. A genuine heartfelt laugh. “You really must get out of your monastery more. I don’t know what the Empire has been feeding you, but the Fae aren’t going to kill you for walking through the woods. Now, you go and cut down a tree without offering compensation and yeah, they’ll probably play a prank on you. If you tried to do more than that, yes, then they would kill you.” For the first time since meeting them, Fel had a real smile on their face.

  Thoren flushed with embarrassment. “I see, it’s true that the books of the Spire didn’t mention anything about that. Do we have to pay tribute to pass?” He looked away sheepishly.

  “Phi is already on it.” Fel said while gesturing over their shoulder. Where Phi’s horse had once been was now a pile of neatly arranged bones laid out. Phi himself was tying up a series of bundles, each wrapped in the hide of the fallen beast, the remaining skin was left with the bones as tribute. “Thanks to his foresight we now have some food for our travels as well. Honestly I thought him mad when I saw the state of his steed last night, but it would seem I misjudged him.”

  Looking up from his work Phi offered a wave. “I hope you rested well, oh great one.” From anyone else that might seem like an offhand insult, considering Thoren was the only one that seemed to need any sleep; but coming from Phi it seemed to be a genuine sentiment.

  “You don’t have to call me that, this isn’t exactly the time for titles. Just call me Thoren.” He said with a sigh as he stretched out his sore muscles.

  “I understand. I hope you rested well, oh great Thoren.” Phi said as he turned back to his work.

  Thoren was about to correct him when it clicked. The man had made a joke. The absurdity of the situation caused Thoren to snort out a sharp laugh. He quickly covered his mouth to hide his outburst. Best not to be too friendly with the abomination, the time might come when the creature would have to be put down.

  Phi finished his work, using a bit of cloth as a makeshift bag for the bundles of meat, he slung the sack over his shoulder. “I’m glad we will be in town soon, I didn’t bring enough salt to preserve this much meat.” He turned to Fel. “I am curious, not to question your judgment. But why did we only use the horses for a single night?”

  The thought had crossed Thoren’s mind as well. Fel looked at the pile of bones absentmindedly as they responded matter of factly. “We’ve already made more ground than they will expect, now we simply have to get to Fulcrest and charter transport to our destination before anyone can catch up to us.”

  “When you say ‘They’, are you referring to the Court?” Thoren said.

  “I’m referring to everyone. We have no idea who stole from the Nightfather, and the more people that know what we’re searching the more problems we’ll have to face.”

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  “Can I ask a stupid question?”

  “Does that question count?”

  Thoren chose to ignore the jab and continued. “What is our goal? Do you know where this weapon is hidden? Or who might be able to take it?”

  Fel turned towards Thoren, they towered above him. “I have already told you enough for now, priest. You still have to earn my trust before I am willing to share anything more.” The tone they used told Thoren that that was the end of the conversation.

  To his surprise, Fel closed their eyes and put their fingers together in prayer. They spoke while facing the offerings, raising their voice to be heard. “Oh great spirits of this sacred land, we humble travelers offer this tribute to you that you might see fit to grant us safe passage through your woods. We swear to respect your home and will leave it as we have found it, safe and whole.” Thoren and Phi copied Fel’s pose and both swore similar oaths under their breaths.

  After a moment, Fel seemed satisfied. “Last chance to ‘freshen up’ before we get under way fellas.”

  Clearing his throat, Thoren moved away from the group to relieve himself in privacy. A few moments later, having finished up, he turned to walk back to the group, only to find a strange figure leaning against a tree staring at Fel and Phi. The figure was a small child wearing a cloak of leaves and twigs, its head was covered by a deer's skull, the many antlers adorned with bones and trinkets tied together with string. The child was barefoot, its hands and feet darkened with dirt.

  Thoren was the first to admit that his knowledge of the Fae was lacking, but even he could put two and two together. This was a spirit. He was unsure of how to act, choosing to clear his throat in hopes he didn’t startle the spirit. The child leapt up in surprise, its many bones rattling with light clinking, it reached up to snatch the bones in an attempt to silence the sound. The spirit turned towards Thoren, it looked side to side before eventually pointing a finger towards itself in confusion.

  “Uh, yes. I can see you. I am sorry I startled you, I do not wish to be rude.” Thoren hoped speaking politely was the right call, unsure of how best to address such a being, or if it even understood him for that matter.

  The child took a step back in shock. It cranked its head back towards the others, it seemed pretty on edge about them. He couldn’t blame it all things considered.

  Thoren knelt down on one knee so as not to further stress the spirit. “They may seem odd, but I promise you, we are only looking to safely travel through your woods. If you will let us.” Looking closer, he could see what looked to be a large cut down the child's arm. “May I see that?” He said pointing to the cut.

  By way of answering, the spirit simply raised its arm towards Thoren, refusing to take its eyes off of Fel and Phi. Thoren gingerly grabbed the spirits wrist, he half expected his hand to pass through it. The cut wasn’t life threatening, but it was dirty and in need of dressing. Thoren pulled out his flask of ceremonial alcohol and ripped a bit of cloth from his sleeve. He would probably get chewed out for defacing his robes again, but he couldn’t leave a child in such a state. “This may sting, but please trust me.” He spoke softly, like he was talking to the neophytes of the Spire as he dabbed some of the alcohol on the cloth. The spirit seemed unphased as he cleaned the wound. Finally he used another strip of cloth to bandage the cut.

  The spirit finally glanced back to see what Thoren had done, it did a double take at the sight of the bandage. Cocking its masked head in marvel at the dressed wound. It poked at its arm and jumped in joy as the bandage held. The spirit shook its head slightly, the bones making a soft jingle in response to its happiness.

  A smile crossed Thoren’s face as he stood up. “I have to go, be safe little one.” He made to walk back to the waiting party when he felt something grab hold of his hand. The spirit began walking beside him hand in hand. “Would you like to join us for a bit?” He asked.

  There was another jingle of bones as the child nodded enthusiastically at the idea. Thoren prepared himself to explain the situation as Fel looked up towards him, but oddly enough they didn’t seem to notice the child at all. Instead they simply started to walk at a brisk pace. Phi also simply nodded to him and turned to match Fel’s pace. Looking down at the child he saw it point towards the others then hold a finger up in front of its mouth. Apparently, it didn’t feel like letting the others see it, and Thoren was to keep it a secret. He squeezed the spirit's hand quickly to let it know he understood.

  As they walked, Thoren finally had a chance to be alone with his thoughts for the first time in a long while. He knew that what he was doing was wrong in the eyes of the Court. Following the will of the old gods went against everything he had been taught, but for some reason he found himself strangely calm. He should have been distraught, but there was a piece of him that knew that this was where he needed to be.

  His thoughts wandered as he remembered the elders of his kind warning him of the evil’s he would come to face in the Coast. Yet, all he could think of was the smiling faces of the people. There was an old proverb he only half remembered, ‘judge a kingdom not for their riches, but for the warmth of their poorest.’ He had dreamed of bringing enlightenment to the Twin’s, yet he had quickly realized his mistake. It was true that his cousins had strayed from the path of the All Mother and played their role in the death of his progenitor; but it was also true that they were an honorable people that carried their sins without shame.

  His mind bounced back and forth as he tried to come to terms with what he had seen and what he had been taught. Those in the Spire would have surely called him mad for even entertaining the thoughts he was having, yet even still he knew he owed it to the All Mother to keep his heart and mind open to the world and her children.

  A pang of regret struck his chest as he remembered that he had left without giving a proper reason to the other diplomates. It had happened all so fast. Though the pain in his chest seemed to linger as his mind conjured the image of Tayla once more.

  An uncomfortable warmth filled him as he quickly brushed the troubling thought from his mind. Only for it to claw its way back into his imagination once more. The trees and their lush green canopy reminded him of her eyes.

  Out of habit he turned to the many psalms he had been taught as he recited them in his head over and over again. For all the good it did.

  It wasn’t long before the spirit began running around the trio, rolling through the grass in somersaults, climbing up trees and jumping down, acting like a normal child. Each time it did, it looked back at Thoren to make sure he was watching it.

  Thoren glanced at his pocket watch after a time, finding that they had already been walking for almost two hours. The spirit was in the middle of attempting to do a handstand when it noticed him looking away from it. The child ran up to Thoren and tugged at his leg while pointing to the watch.

  Without making it obvious, Thoren held out the watch for the spirit to see, it seemed mesmerized by the moving gears and the hands of the clock face. It pointed to it excitedly. Whispering just loud enough for the spirit to hear him he said. “We are trying to make it through the forest as quickly as we can, I was just seeing the time.” The spirit cocked its head. Pointing towards itself and then waving its hand in mock goodbye. “Well, yes, when we reach the edge of the forest I will have to say goodbye. But I would hope we have the chance to meet again.”

  The spirit’s head sank, then just as quickly it seemed to stand up straighter. It reached its hands up before it, towards the direction they were walking. Thoren felt the ground beneath him shift as he was suddenly thrust forward with incredible force, only to be thrown to the ground as the force stopped abruptly. Fel and Phi both gasped as they too were equally cast to the ground.

  The trio shook themselves for a moment, looking up to find themselves having been transported to a completely different place. They were now laying at the edge of the woods, rolling hills stretching out before them surrounded on either side by mountains.

  Fel looked around in disbelief. “What the hells just happened! Where are we?!”

  Phi was feeling around the ground, he had a pained look on his face. “What do you mean?”

  Thoren blinked as he turned to the spirit who still stood beside him. It put its hand on its hips, radiating pride as it puffed out its tiny chest. “You did this?” The spirit nodded as it crossed its arms, evidently it seemed to like showing off.

  A dark look crossed Fel’s face as they turned to face Thoren. “Who are you talking to? There’s nobody here? Unless, can you see a spirit?”

  “Yeah, it was scared of you and didn’t want me to say anything, but it seems to have wanted to help us.” Thoren said with a hint of embarrassment as he stood back up.

  Fel raised a finger towards him, readying themselves to lecture him, but the fire seemed to die in their eyes even as they opened their mouth. “Yeah, actually that might have been smart. I don’t like it, but playing along was the right call.”

  Phi turned around. “I can’t sense it at all. I mean, I didn’t think I would be able to, but still, now I know for sure.”

  Thoren turned back to the waiting spirit. “Thank you for your help! If there’s anything I can do to repay you.” The spirit raised its hand, holding out its pinkie finger. Chuckling, Thoren reached down with his own pinkie and interlocked it. “I promise, I’ll come visit you again.”

  The spirit jumped up and down with joy. Reaching up it pulled off one of its bones and a leaf from its cloak and handed the items to Thoren who happily took the offered items. He opened his cloak, hoping to give the spirit his pocket watch as thanks, instead it quickly grabbed his flask and turned to run back into the woods.

  “Hey! You shouldn’t drink that! You’ll get sick!” Thoren cried even as the spirit vanished into thin air.

  With a sigh he turned back to see the other two standing there, their faces showed their own bewilderment at what happened. Fel looked up towards the midday sun. “Well, thanks to your new friend, we just shaved off half a day of walking. Can’t say I love owing mysterious spirits favors, but I won’t look a gift horse in the face.”

  The trio shook themselves off as they continued down the path towards Fulcrest. Thoren inspected the gifts he had received as he put them in his chest pocket, the bone was from an animal of some kind, but he couldn’t figure out which. The leaf seemed normal enough, but as he turned it he found letters etched into it.

  BEWARE THE DEAD STAR