Honestly, Wendell thought, what was it about the smug little cow that just got under his skin. Kes’tral need only hold out her hands and a completely wild animal all but bowed at her feet. He lay back on the rock, exhausted by the ease at which some people managed to move through life.

Everything had seemed like an uphill battle for him from a very young age. He had never taken to magic, suspecting that was what the woman used now, to cheat him of a little satisfaction at her failed attempts. It seemed it was not to be. She could heal nasty wounds ripe with infection, summon water in the desert of all places and ride an untrained horse within minutes.

She wandered over on the back of the mare, stopping a few feet from the rock to make her offer. It was like rubbing salt in the wound.

“No. I think I’ll walk,” Wendell said. “I’ve changed my mind about the horse.”

He gathered up his rope and looped the end through the centre to keep it neat, tying it off before lifting it up over his head so that it sat against his shoulder and across his chest. Wendell climbed down from his rock and made the slow walk back in the direction of the woodlands. For the first time throughout their journey, he didn’t care whether the woman followed him or not.

Jealousy was such an ugly and cruel trait. Failing to learn magic had put him at a disadvantage, one he didn’t like to show or admit to. He had tried to work twice as hard as everyone else in order to be of some value, but kept finding himself in situations where, like Kes’tral had said, often he was the reason for their downfall. How had she put it? A fragile man in need of protecting.

Wendy changed his mind and Kes sat back on the horse. She smoothed her hands over the warm fur, scratching the creature above the shoulder. “This,” she called after him as the man went, “this is the horse I would chose for you.” The woman nudged the horse with her heels, applying pressure with one of her knees.

“She tells me, that she usually pulls a caravan, but she would not mind carrying you, if you do not pull at her mouth.” The horse extended its neck and sniffed at the man as he walked away. The rope was slung over his shoulder.

“If you do not want her, I will send her back to the herd…” Kes informed the pirate. He had a bad temper and usually it would make her smile. But not when there was something wrong about this entire place. Something that drained her energy and left her feeling so tired already.

The black horse had hidden amongst the herd and Kes looked over at it once more. It was hard to sense the ebony creature. It’s thoughts were closed to her.

Luckily, the two had forgotten about her just as she hoped. Attie had calmed down enough to undo her transformation spell. Her body morphed from the beautiful black horse into a girl with short black hair. The horses scattered after her transformation, as it was surprising and they were too close to it for comfort. She looked to the other two and decided to jog over to Kes who was on the back of a horse. 

"You guys really need to leave." Attie said quickly, "There are armies of Eldritch abominations who are storming through the Bohar plains. Monsters of all kinds! The gods and an army of Canelux soldiers are facing them as we speak but the more villagers and travelers we can help move out of the way, the easier it will be for them. Unless you really want to deal with swarms of monsters, I'd suggest getting out of here has fast as possible!" 

She hoped that the two would listen to her as these monsters were not a joke. Attie had seen plenty of them and although they could be killed, their masses in numbers made them deadly. 

Wendell stopped, disappointed the woman had followed him after he had made his wishes clear. “Return the mare to her herd,” he agreed, “I would not take an animal tricked away from its family by you.” His words were cold and he knew it. The pirate had overstepped.

Movement caught his eye, as a young woman with black hair jogged through the grass towards them from a distance. Where had she come from, he wondered. The girl stopped to talk to Kes’tral, speaking from a distance. Wendell took a step closer to hear what she had to say. Eldritch armies?

He squinted and mulled over the word, where had he heard it before? Eldritch, like the ghosts? That explained what the woman driving the caravan had meant about death walking the earth. Of course, it was difficult to believe without seeing any of this for themselves.

An army of soldiers and gods were set to face off against the sinister hoard? Would Kes’tral believe in the gods then, he wondered. It had sounded like she doubted their existence in the desert. Wendell knew he could defend himself with a sword, after all, he had endured as much training as any soldier or knight. Of course, there was only one of him, so any more than a handful of monsters at one time was bound to be too much to cope with alone.

The pirate looked up at Kes’tral, his anger and frustration forgotten. “The boat is only a few hours away,” he reminded her, “hidden on the coast…” if no one else had taken it, he thought to himself. Panic did strange things to people, often causing them to act in ways they would usually not.

His hands went to his hips, gaze falling upon the lone stranger who had deemed it fit to go out of her way to warn them. “Thank you for letting us know,” he said, extending his gratitude. “Come along, Kes’tral, the horse won't fit on the boat.”

Wendy gave his orders and the woman rolled her eyes. About to dismount from the horse, she found herself staring at the dark-haired girl who emerged from the scattering herd. Well, she reasoned, at least that made a little sense. No wonder she hadn’t been able to sense the black horse properly. Kes continued her dismount, landing with a soft thud on the ground. The horse lipped against her palm before trotting off to join it’s family. Kes glanced at Wendy then, the man had been harsh with his words. Perhaps, there would be time enough for her to explain to him how things worked in the future. If they chose to travel together that was, and if they survived the plague in this land.

The girl spoke quickly and Kes tilted her head to one side, birdlike once more. Armies were approaching? Gods and…she squinted, wondering if she had heard correctly. El-ditch? Kes glanced at Wendy, did that make any sense to him?

“El Ditch?” Kes frowned, “is he a warlord?” She asked and stepped forward. The woman glanced between Wendy and the girl, what did he make of all of this. “Is that what I sense here, in this land?” She wondered aloud, “I’m sorry, I’m a little confused. You’re here to warn us?”

These two must have been the most uninformed people in the history of people! Attie would have assumed most people by now at least knew that something was wrong. However it seemed that the two knew very little about the Eldritch beasts. Then Kes began to ask questions and it occurred to Attie that they might have just been some poor travelers who didn't keep up with the goings on of the world. That would explain a lot. 

"These are not warriors. The Eldritch are monsters. There are swarms of them pouring into the Bohar plains." Attie explained, "And it might be what you sensed earlier. I don't know much about sensing magic."

Attie realized that it she would probably have to go with them. If anything happened, these two would probably get caught off guard. Neither of them had seen what the monsters were like so they might assume that they are normal creatures. Not to mention the Chompers who could take the form of humans or creatures would easily catch them off guard if they went alone. 

"I'll come with you." Attie said, "You guys don't know what these things look like so I'm afraid to leave you two alone. Besides I have some protection spells in case something goes wrong." 

“Come with us?” Wendell echoed. He gave pause, turning to look between the two women. Outnumbered, he thought, that was all he needed.

Wendell could sense Kes’tral’s displeasure at being told what to do. He brushed it off, what did he care? The dark haired woman had made an offer, one Wendell didn’t feel he had the right to deny, though he thought he might, if Kes’tal did not speak up soon.

“If it is your intention to flee,” Wendell said, “we have a boat on the coast, scarily big enough for one. I’m afraid you just wouldn’t fit.” He certainly wasn’t going to stay behind. It seemed Kes’tral knew something the pirate didn’t, that the stranger who had come to warn them, had the ability to shapeshift, just as she did.

“We trust what you are telling us is true,” he added, the girl did not need to hold their hands.

He turned to look at the horizon. Had it darkened since dawn? Was it just the mention of terror that seem to bore more? Tricks of an overactive imagination, perhaps. The girl was clearly well informed, maybe she would be useful.

“And if we run into these things on the way to the boat? How are we to defend ourselves?” He inquired, curious as to just how much this kind stranger knew.

Kes’tral watched the girl, curious as she spoke and provided some more information. She ran her hands through one of her braids and moved closer as though to inspect her. “Monsters?” She echoed and looked across the Wendy.

He was eager to run and she didn’t blame him. She believed the girl, monsters coming out into the world would cause that strange, disturbed feeling that she had. “You’re going to leave?” She looked at Wendy then and almost sighed.

“Tell us more,” Kes shouldered her heavy pack. She was uncertain if she would stay, or if she would go. “What do they look like? How do we aid the gods?”

Both of them appeared to want to know more information so Attie decided to tell them as much as she knew. She hoped it would help motivate them to get out of the plains or at least if they wanted to fight, go to where the front lines were to join the battle. It would be easier for them to fight in a team rather than having to struggle on their own. Another thing that she noticed was that Kes and Wendell didn't really appear to work as a team. Kes appeared to be more focused on learning about the monster while Wendell was focusing on the escape plan. 

"If you see a vaguely humanoid with a split torso down the middle and that torso opens up into a mouth, then that is called a Chomper." Attie explained, "It has the ability to take the forms of people and mimic them. They also are great leapers when annoyed. Now as for their weaknesses, they can't use magic so that is a way to identify somebody as a Chomper. Another way to tell is if they are twitching unnaturally during sleep. Chompers are weak against fire."

Attie noticed that Kes wasn't moving much and she decided to see if they were going to head to the boat or not. 

"The next monster is called a Plaguer. It has dark hollowed eyes, walks on two legs, and they have a gaping maw. This monster is filled with poison, can explode, and it can eat through armor in seconds. The best way to get rid of a Plaguer is through long distance with an arrow or another ranged attack." Attie explaind, " An Infester is basically a large spider with six legs and its mouth is on its underside. With one bite it can turn you into a Corrupted. A Corrupted is basically a person who was bitten by an Infester that will eventually transform into one of these monsters. I don't think its curable. I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I was warned about the most."

Wendell shook his head. Why was she stalling? Honestly, he thought, it were as if the woman welcomed death with open arms. How many times was she going to get them in trouble? He was reminded of their time in Harena, when he had been woken by the three cut throats she had led back to camp. That day he had almost died. Wendell didn’t want to tempt fate twice.

“What are you doing?” He asked, “you can’t actually be considering this… staying!” He said, “are you mad!”

Attie described some of the terrifying creatures they might face should they linger, making the idea of leaving by ship all the more appealing. He couldn’t use magic, Wendell thought, did that make him a Chomper? He almost laughed, this he knew the answer to already.

The pirate waved, as if to shrug the pair off. He wasn’t interested in some all for one death wish. Wendell turned in the direction of the boat, nothing the pair said was going to change his mind. He was leaving, it was the smart thing to do. In fact, it couldn’t be done fast enough. Wendell moved at a trot, if Kes’tral wanted to leave for the boat, she would have to make her decision soon.