”Well, this is unfortunate,” Jedrek mumbled while sitting on an exposed root of a large tree. Elbows rested upon his knees as he leaned forward while looking around the surroundings. Sunlight barely made it through the thick canopy above. A request had come in from his home Clan to make his way to the Virens Forest, but now Jedrek felt that he should have ignored the orders. Matriarch Uial was working hard to get the entire Jiyu Clan to search for the items mentioned by the Voice to help bring the issue to an end. That meant that her hunters had to be distributed throughout Revaliir to make a mass search. Jedrek scratched the top of his head in frustration at the fact he had gotten himself lost in a forest that offered little ability to figure out your surroundings.

”Codex pages, Soul Twigs, Tempestas Silversword, dusk fang, bear claw, and raven feathers. This list is crap and who the hell would find those kinds of things? Bear claw and raven feather potentially here in this forest. But by Zanar, how am I supposed to find these things?’ Jedrek was become accustomed to being outside the realm of his hidden village. It was nice to find a new places to stretch his legs and not worry about his emotions slipping for the Matriarch. Hand ruffled his hair furiously before clapping both on his knees to stand up. ”Well, no time like the present to search for some feathers or claws….whatever they may be for.”

The demon hunter adjusted the sword at his waist where it rested in a simple black sheathe. He scratched his neck a shoulder before moving further into the forest. Golden orbs scanned the forest floor as well as up the trunks of the trees. Nothing stood out to him, even though the forest felt quieter than it should have been. Jedrek frowned as he squinted as if it were to help him see better. Even with his night sight ability, he knew that he wouldn’t see all that was needed in this search. Hoping over a downed tree the hunter began to search while crouched down hoping that it was yield something for him to count as a success. ”This is just not going to work,” he muttered again with great agitation. ”Gods this is boring.” He stood up with hand on him looking just as agitated as his tone was. There had to be something that would bring him success.

Zanar had left Sularia after he and the other gods had known that the barrier that they had erected would be strong enough to hold back, whatever it was that possessed Dalanesca. Worry though, of course still filled his mind cause of this being could possess one of the Tree’s chosen who knew if their barrier was strong enough to fully protect Angela. He could not just stay there and wait though, he needed to go and see if he could find Dalanesca himself and destroy what was using her body as a vessel, even if that meant destroying her body.

It is what she would expect out of any of us, our charge is to protect this realm.

This is what the God kept telling himself, as he wandered through the Viren’s keeping an eye out just in case the eldritch creature decided to come after another god. His temple and grounds rested within its deepest parts so he needed to be here to protect those that were under his wings. He knew that his abilities were no help to him on finding Dalensca, so he had to do it the old fashioned way.

He had searched for hours in the large forest, yet there was no sign of her around. The only thing that he had noticed was some of the rifts were releasing far more aether than before, and its effects were affecting the plant and wildlife around the area. Some of them were dying off from an overload of aether, while others were becoming twisted abominations of their former selves from oversaturation. It hurt Zanar to have to cut down the innocent creatures that had no control and made him even more pissed that this being did this to their realm.

All hope was not lost though, as the Voice had cried out for mortals around the realm to help gather items that would seal up or draw out the creature. Items that held some sort of meaning to each of the gods. One thing that did bring people together was the threat of destruction, but fighting to live was the most basic instinct that each creature had. Zanar was curious though, as to why the Voice couldn’t just use its own powers to do the same. He knew he shouldn’t question what it thought or its motives but at the same time, he couldn’t help it.

It was during these thoughts that his eye found the flash of golden light. Someone else was near the vicinity, as the creatures of the wild were silent as well. Someone searching for the items? Or was it her? He made his way to the source, keeping in the shadows of the tree and footsteps silent. He needed to just in case it was the possessed Dalanesca as he would call to the other gods rather than fight alone. Yet, this was not the case as it was instead a man. A rather agitated one at that it seemed.

Blame you I do not, the Voice is never clear in its instructions.

” It may be boring, but if you wish to live then keep up finding the items.” Zanar spoke out finally emerging from the shadows of the canopy. ” It instructed you with this task. As to its reasons well even we do not know of that.” the god shrugged as he spoke and let out a small sigh. ” Though if you wish to continue searching through the forest, I will warn you. The rifts have caused some of the creatures and the flora to mutate from aether saturation. Keep on your toes.”

There was no certainty in Jedrek on how long he had spent searching. It seemed out of the ordinary that he was finding nothing. Literally. There were no signs of animals around that would give him the items he was looking for. The hunter felt on edge because of the quiet that was surrounding him in such a forest. It was supposed to be nosier with the life of the animals. What concerned him were the rifts that had opened up around Revaliir. Nothing had come forth from them yet from what he could tell. Jedrek wondered if it were those rifts that were setting the animals on edge. It was not just the animals on edge but the hunter as well.

Jedrek rubbed the back of his neck before standing up straight again from checking next to a fallen log. He moaned loudly in agitation while throwing his head back. ”Where am I supposed to find this crap?! What are is the point of it all anyway? Why can’t the Voice just gather it?” These questions were going through the minds of all of those who were able to pull themselves out of situations. He knew that there were many of the Jiyu clan that would not question the requests given. Jedrek was not one of them. The hunter had a tendency to walk outside the lines set up by clan.

The inner voice pricked at him to get the hunter to turn around. Golden eyes widened in surprise. The man looked normal to where no one would have guessed that the other was a god. Jedrek knew immediately that the newcomer was the patron god of his clan. Many of the others would have bowed instantly, but Jedrek froze in place while listening to Zanar speak.

”Uhhh…thank you for the warning,” he managed to get out. The hunter realized that he had not been so tongue tied when he had met Lady Angela at the wedding of Cole and Nymph. All he could think about was the fact that it was most likely because he didn’t care about the gods. At least, he only cared about one. He always prayed to Lord Zanar before a hunt. Jedrek wouldn’t admit it to anyone. ANYONE.

”Lord Zanar?” Finally, he bowed in respect before turning to look around at his surroundings. ”I take it that you are looking for the ingredients as well? Umm….I’m not opposed to searching with you.” He felt bold for suggesting tagging along with a god. There was great doubt that there would be any other opportunity to spend time with the god that you literally worshipped.