Deep within Virens Forest there is a place known as The Glade; it is a place of beauty where a variety of animals gather to eat of the sweet, soft grass that grows there, bath in the crystal like waters, drink of the fresh cool streams and live in the knowledge that in this place they are safe and free from harm.
If you were to ask the Stag why he knows this place is safe he would tell you it is because She protects The Glade… The animals of the Forest have no name for her, or at least do not know her given name - to them she is the Forest, she is The Glade, they call her Sister, they call her Protector, they call her their Saviour… and despite her gentle hand with them she is fierce to those who dare infect The Glade with their foul stench and dark ways.
As if She were not enough the animals would beg your attention a little longer; She is strong, She is fierce but there is another who stalks this part of the Forest, one with fangs and claws and a rage that only She has ever been able to quell; She is the protector of The Glade and he is her protector.
If you come to this place with love and peace within your heart then entry will be granted; entry, protection and safety shall be yours… but come to The Glade with hostile intent and you will soon learn exactly what kind of woman the protector of this Forest is and what He is also capable of in defence of Her.

She had always been there; but He had not. During the wars the woman had become more prominent in the world; where once she had been more legend and rumour suddenly she became a reality. As soon as The Glade had come under threat She had come to action and shown just what She was capable of - no longer a legend She made her name as a Druid Necromancer, a terrifying mixture to be truthful - to see reanimated corpses entangled and reinforced with vines and bark and briar thorns was truly a frightful site and far harder to vanquish than the usual skeletal bodies that a Necromancer called forth as their army.
It had been during this time when they had met; when He had stumbled into Her Glade - fully alert to Her responsibilities She had lashed out at Him and He returned the favour, scarring Her beautiful face in the process. No harm had been meant by either party and after the damage was done both realised that neither was a threat. She had begun to care for Him and He for Her until at last they became lovers, protecting The Glade as one.

The day was bright and clear; serene and perfect. The wars were long since over and they had lived in relative peace within the confines of the Forest since, there were always a few incidents but not many and none that left much concern or took too much effort for either to deal with. Humming softly the red headed woman smiled to herself as she rested her back against the trunk of a large red oak, the sun warming her face as she felt the soft grass beneath her hands. She had been here always; born and raised within this Forest she was tied to The Glade with her very being - and she would not have had it any other way. Opening her eyes she smiled as she spotted the man she called her protector, and her lover. Their relationship was an odd one but she loved him all the same. “I take it you’ve been out on patrol once more?” She asked him.

He hadn't known what he sought when he left the place of his birth, the place he had grown up in, and the only place he had known for so, so long. He only knew he was seeking something, and that he would know what it was when he saw it. That drive saw him wander for what amounted to lifetimes for other races, during which time saw the young, somewhat naive man grow into a stoic, steadfast warrior. Often he took up work as a mercenary, a sword for hire, helping those who could not fight for themselves, hoping that, by doing so, he could finally find what he had been seeking for so long. No matter how many small villages he defended, troops of guardsmen raiding bandit camps he assisted, or any other myriad of jobs he took, he could not find it. The longer he searched, the more restless the beast within became, all too aware that it had a role to fulfil, but unaware of what it was. It made him short tempered and set him on edge, until, like a hunted animal, he fled civilisation altogether, forsaking the trappings of stifling codes of conduct. All of the caution his parents had instilled in him he threw to the wind, and embraced his bestial side.

For years, he ran as a direwolf, forsaking the more humanoid form for his quadruped self. Even roaming the wilds, that elusive something eluded him, always urging him forwards, but always just out of reach. At night he howled, as if this intangible feeling would respond, and show him where to go. Frustration burned, driving him ever onwards, until he was nothing more than a maddened wolf, running day and night on his mad search. He knew there was somewhere he had to be, something he had to do, if only he could find it…! Almost gone was the stoic, composed mercenary, buried deep within the heart of the massive, roan coloured wolf.
During the Wars, legends began to spread of a huge wolf, suddenly appearing during a battle and tearing into warriors, with little regard as to whom was fighting whom, and why. He seemed to fight simply for the joy of fighting, though it did little to ease the longing, and so the wolf continued to roam.

It was during the height of the Wars that he arrived at The Glade. The first step onto the soft, lush grass was akin to coming home after a long time away, and the wolf felt some of that tension ease. He stepped forwards, and that was when he met Her. Their first meeting was a clash of wills and strength, he scarred her face, she took his right eye, but in the end, they came to an understanding. That they were not enemies, that instead they should be allies, and that the harm they had dealt to each other was in error. She defended the Glad, and he defended Her. They were united by the Glade and their devotion to it, and this spread to become a devotion to each other, and though the rage and fury still burned within the wolf, it burned in defence of all that mattered to him in the world.

The Wars were long past, and the Glade had flourished under their care with only minor happenings to mar its tranquillity. Still this was no reason to become complacent, and so he had stalked the boundaries of their home, listened to the chatter of the animals who shared it with them, and ensured all was well within their domain. She was attuned to this land, and it was bound to her in such a way that she would know of any danger or mishap, but still her wolf was vigilant. Even though he walked towards her as a man, there was that same restless, predatory grace to his motions, that sharp gleam in his eye that showed he was watching and ready for anything.
Hunkering down on his haunches beside her, he grunted affirmatively. They made for an odd couple, her slim, graceful, and beautiful, him, rugged, scarred, and hulking, but they belonged to the other, and to the Glade.
"Nothing much to see," he said, before sitting down properly and pulling her into his side. He didn't use words to express how he felt, had never been very good with them, and instead simply relished having her close.
"How about here?"

The woman smiled as her lover joined her on the grass, pulling her against his side. Closing her eyes Vhaela leant into his warmth, her hands feeling the taut muscles of his chest beneath her fingertips - while Bracken was not of The Glade he had become a part of it and because of that she could feel everything; her gentle touch picked out the muscles that were coiled like springs, ever ready to release and launch him into battle should she or their home come into danger, it was like electricity coursing through her veins when she touched him, her skin tingling under his presence, his fire setting alight the one within her own heart. No one would take their home from them but if ever there was something that could destroy The Glade Vhaela believed he would be it - that fire and rage within him would never be directed towards her nor their home but if anyone could do it, if anyone could take this place from her and burn it to the ground it would be him… 
She scowled slightly at the thought; something about that felt almost like a prediction, as though the Forest was showing her it's end as well as her own… whatever the reason behind it she knew deep in her heart that it was not done out of malice but once more to protect her… What lies ahead that my heart would be forced to destroy all that we love… what darkness could possibly force his hand to do such a thing… She wondered silently; a twinge of fear in her own heart that she would somehow lose her way in the Darkness and that the only way to save her, the only way to end it would be for Bracken to end The Glade and therefore her life… Vhaela's free hand wrapped around his back to touch the tree bark behind him; grounding herself to The Glade and bringing her back to reality. If this was her future she would seek to change it - this place was their home, she had been born and raised here, tied to the Forest to protect it until it's death and she would do nothing that would create it's destruction… that had been her vow when she had become of age had it not?

Realising she had not answered his question Vhaela shook herself from the dark thoughts threatening to cloud their day and looked up at him, smiling softly as she looked into his eyes - a twinge of guilt flickering through her as it often did as she looked into the eye she had taken from him on the first day of their meeting. "Nothing here either; the world is silent for the moment… though the Forest talks of something new further afield, mines opening up for the first time in centuries or some such." She shook her head and lay her cheek against his torso, listening to the strong beat of his heart; soothing herself with his presence as she often did. The wars were over in the world but not within Vhaela's own mind it seemed; for the first time in centuries, since taking her post as the guardian of this place, she felt a stirring within herself. "Bracken… do you ever wonder whether we should venture outside of here? Not far but… just… see part of the world. I know you have, you came from the outside but I… I never saw much of this world before I tied myself to this part of the Forest. I wouldn't change that, you know I wouldn't but… something in my heart keeps telling me that we need to leave - that staying here too much longer might actually become dangerous for The Glade."

While it was true he had not been born and raised here, Bracken fit into the Glade as if he had, as if he had never lived anywhere else. To think such, however, would be to make light of the hardships he had both endured and witnessed as he roamed the world in search of home. He knew the world was a dark, foreboding place, full of people who justified their evil with endless reasoning, just as much as there were people who acted for good, and tried to help others. Bracken himself had not always been one of the latter, though he had never gone fully into the former - he had simply done what he needed to survive. He hadn't known he was looking for the Glade and Vhaela, but now he had found them, it all seemed so obvious that this what was his life had been leading him toward. The warm, lithe woman, nestled trustingly against his side, eased the raging wolf within, her mere presence a balm. He hadn't realised how angry he had become, wandering the world for centuries, millennia, he forgot just how long, bearing witness to all the good and bad mortalkind had to offer. That rage still burned, though it was akin to a banked fire beside his beloved. He had learned how to control it, rather than be controlled by it. It was the greatest weapon he wielded in defence of Vhaela and the Glade.

Had he been privy to Vhaela's dark thoughts, he would have vehemently denied he would ever do anything to harm her, or their home. He lived and breathed to protect the Glade, and Vhaela would forever be the one to hold his heart. Nothing could occur that would turn his fire onto her - he'd sooner claw out his own heart than raise a hand against her.

Hearing about the mines opening, Bracken simply made a thoughtful noise. He had been down many mines in his time, not to pick at the earth until it gave up its treasure, but to root out nests of foul creatures plaguing the workers, or to destroy cabals of necromancers. Couldn't say he was fond of mines, but neither did he dislike them - they were just things he had sometimes had cause to visit. He filed the information away, certain he'd not need it any time soon, but keeping it there all the same. It never hiurt to be prepared, though nothing prepared him for what Vhaela said next.
Leave the Glade? Become a danger to it? His brow furrowed, and he looked down into Vhaela's eyes, an old pang of guilt striking through him at the sight of the scar on her face.
"How would we become a danger?" he asked. It wouldn't help to deny ever becoming a threat to their Glade - Vhaela already knew he wouldn't ever hurt what they had here - and she was privy to knowledge and whispers from the Forest he wasn't. If she felt something to be a premonition or a hunch, it was generally wise to take heed of them.
"I could show you some of the world outside," he grudgingly offered, wanting to do anything he could to assuage her fears, but loathe to leave the place he had found his love and his home.