Tale of Eldramir

Ezekiel continued to dart between shadows cast by trees and boulders as he ran through the crag that had given him cover for the past two days. Dropping the Forest Spirit’s seeds every now and then when he got the chance.

On more than one occasion he’d been forced to bunker down and slow his progress. Though, since he’d been diverted and had been running perpendicular to his previous path, his progress had already been slowed.

Luckily, however, he’d managed to find a small creek within his first day following the jagged crag. He’d been following it for quite some time, but while it had provided him some cover on occasion, it had also forced him to be more careful. Far more patrols seemed to be watching the waterways than anywhere else.

“Ezekiel, I think we need to get out of here.” Shine’s voice cut through Ezekiel’s focus, bringing his attention away from the sky where he had been watching out for Cruor passing overhead.

Looking down at the stream of water running next to him, Ezekiel placed a hand on Shine’s hilt. He didn’t have his Shroud up, as the cover from the crag had mostly been enough to keep him hidden from the Umbral Beasts and patrols from above. As such, he wasn’t certain if he’d been seen or not.

“What happened?” Ezekiel asked. To save mana he hadn’t put up his Shroud just yet.

“Something’s watching us. From the water.” Shine told him. “I thought it was just a log, but then it-”

The moment Shine said ‘log’, Ezekiel immediately tense, leaping backward before Shine could finish their sentence. Just in time to avoid a massive set of jaws from snapping shut around him.

Swinging Shine in the direction of the Umbral Beast shaped like a crocodile, but with six eyes and limbs half as long as its body, oily ichor flowed from where Ezekiel sliced through its jaw. The beast roared in pain, something that Ezekiel knew would bring him trouble.

“Shit!” Ezekiel spoke aloud for the first time in weeks. His blade had barely managed to cut more than a few inches deep. Given the size of the beast in front of him, that meant that little, as it was nearly the same size as an elephant.

Knowing that this Beast was in the upper levels of Tier two, Ezekiel chose to cut his losses and run. He knew that facing a beast like this without the benefit of surprise was a fool's errand. Knowing that he would have to risk it, Ezekiel jumped to the top of the Crag before the Umbral Beast could regain its bearings and attack again.

He hoped that the beast wouldn’t be too willing to go that far from its water source, so Ezekiel started running as fast as he could from the creek within the crag. Unfortunately, it seemed like this was one of the few Deep Umbral Beasts that could survive for some time on land.

This was something that only Tier three Deep Cruor could do for limited amounts of time. Ezekiel guessed that, since the creature the Umbral Beast likely mutated from was an animal that could already survive on land, it must’ve retained some of its original features.

Knowing that he wouldn’t last long if he couldn’t get away, Ezekiel threw up his Shroud. Holding his breath to allow himself to conceal his scent as well, he channeled as much mana as he safely could to run as fast as possible. He needed to get as much distance between him and the Umbral Beast as possible. It was still roaring at him, even though it couldn’t see him. So, he knew he didn’t have much time before the Cruor eventually arrived.

The crocodilian Deep Umbral Beast laid dead on its side. A crude steel sword was yanked out from its corpse and the Winged Cruor that wielded it began cleaning off the ichor from the blade.

This Cruor was nearly human in appearance. With a head of long hair tied back, with only a few long and flexible feathers elegantly growing from his scalp, his face was mostly humanoid, as was his body. Only the wings and talons at the end of his arms and legs were obviously inhuman.

Though there was a light spread of feathers growing across his body. Noticeable due to the lack of shirt as the Cruor merely wore a loosely wrapped toga that allowed his wings to spread.

A much less human looking Cruor gently landed a few feet away from the Cruor with the sword. He immediately took a knee in front of the Cruor that had slain the Umbral Beast.

“Report.” The first Cruor said.”

“Our scouts are sweeping the forest everywhere north of the creek that they can, but there has been no luck finding the human.” The second Cruor said.

“No tracks? No scent? Nothing that would give the human away?” The first Cruor asked.

“Indeed. The strangest thing is that we can’t even find a trace of mana lingering in the area. It is as if the human isn’t using magic.” The second Cruor said.

There was no doubt in the Cruor’s minds that the intruder was a human, not a Spirit, as a Spirit would be easily sensed within the Cruor’s Desolate territories. Spirits were beings of mana, and as such, they were beacons of light that drew Umbral Beasts towards them like moths to a flame. Humans, on the other hand, could conceal their mana within their fleshly bodies. At least until they used magic.

But this was what they found so strange, as they knew that no human could have survived for this long in their territory without using magic. By this point, they should’ve at least been able to find traces from when the human was fighting the Umbral Beasts.

Yet there were no residual Flames, hints of Radiance, motes of Life, the stillness of Obscurity, or even the scent of Death. None of the elements of mana were present. No traces of the human could be found for tracking. Just the remains of dead Umbral Beasts as it passed through.

“Continue searching for now. We cannot allow the human to get any further into our territory. Though we will need to have a team go off to spread the word.” The first Cruor paused to think. “Send a message back to our base saying we found a trace. Send a second message to both the bases that the human might be headed to, as well as a message to our headquarters. As tricky as this human is, we may need to dedicate additional forces.”

“Is that truly necessary? I’m sure that, if given enough time, we’ll be able to find the human without issue.” The second Cruor asked.

“I don’t doubt that, but what concerns me is what they might be hiding. You have never fought the Hunters before. The Mages with their Spirits and their enchanted weapons are not to be underestimated. Especially if they can conceal themselves as well as this human can.” The first Cruor said. “Imagine what might happen if he had a device that exploded under certain conditions. The hidden human places one beneath a house within one of our bases. You go to sleep, and you don’t wake up because you’re dead, and your house is rubble.”

The second Cruor swallowed nervously at the gruesome image. He hadn’t known that such devices existed. The Cruor were excellent at fighting, with a natural inclination that allowed them to easily surpass a Hunter in physical combat. But the effects of elemental magic were beyond them.

Many of the younger Cruor, at least those that hadn’t been in combat with the Hunters, were unaware of such weapons.

“I understand. Word will be sent, and reinforcements will be requested.” The second Cruor stood and bowed once again before taking flight.

The first Cruor remained on the ground. He stared into the distance thinking about what was happening. No humans had set foot on this particular island in centuries. At least according to the records his fellow Cruor kept in the archives further into the Desolate Lands.

At the thought of humans and Hunters, the Cruor flinched as an old wound, a burn that spread from his waist, and up along his side, twinged with pain. The memory of a battle with the Hunters on another island, nearly a decade ago came to the forefront of his mind. As well as the appearance of the Legendary Flame Mage whose attack had nearly killed him.

“I wonder what’s in store for us.” The Cruor whispered to the wind. Letting out a deep sigh, he stood up slowly, before flying away in a gust of wind and a ruffling of leaves.

Soon enough, the corpse of the Umbral Beast was beset upon by other beasts, all drawn in from the scent of the ichor staining the forest floor. Only the presence of the Cruor had kept them back. But now, within minutes, all that remained was a small patch of land, stained with oily ichor, as even the bones were eventually devoured.

Ezekiel sat with his back against a stone wall as he hid from the search parties that had been hunting him for the better part of a day. He had exhausted his mana fairly quickly when he had made his first breakaway from the crocodilian Umbral Beast. Luckily, it seemed like he was reaching a different area of the island. The trees and forest surrounding him had slowly become more and more sparse, and the land became littered with stone and boulders.

Ezekiel could tell from the rifts torn up in the ground that this must've been a battlefield at some point in the past. The rents and tears that were scattered across the ground were in no way naturally formed. Though with the use of magic by the Ancients to shape the world, he did wonder if any parts of the world could be considered as naturally formed.

“Focus!” Shine exclaimed. They were doing their best to keep a lookout for additional scouts as Ezekiel hid at the bottom of a particularly deep crack in the ground.

Next to the two of them lay a dead pack of Umbral Beasts. These ones were incredibly rat-like in appearance. They were also all Tier one, but their numbers were high. Several dozen had died before even more of them had decided to flee through much smaller cracks surrounding Ezekiel.

“Sorry. I’m just a bit tired.” Ezekiel said. By this point his breathing had calmed down, but he was still concerned about how he would get some proper rest.

They’d been sitting for a while now, and Ezekiel was still halfway from fully regaining his mana. Ezekiel wanted to find a better place to rest, as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep in the small crack in the ground he was currently hiding in.

Given that it was getting closer to dark, Ezekiel knew that he didn’t have too long before he’d have to find a proper place to sleep in. Something that would be difficult given the change in terrain. Shine was strong, but it would be too inefficient and costly for them to try cutting caves into stone for shelter.

“We need to find another place to rest. I still have mana. Let me put up a Shroud while you keep us moving. That way you can throw up a Shroud when I run out.” Shine said.

“Can you last for half an hour?” Ezekiel asked. He knew that, if they were nearly full of mana, that Shine would be able to maintain a Shroud for at least that long. But he didn’t know how much Shine had been helping him so far. He didn’t want to risk straining them, or the Shroud running out at a bad time.

A sense of assurance was all Ezekiel got in reply. The familiar feeling of his Void Shroud stealing over him appeared. Using the tiniest amount of mana that he could, Ezekiel climbed out of the hole he was in. Picking a random direction different from the one he came from, Ezekiel started running.

The lack of mana usage meant that he had to go at a much slower pace to maintain a steady speed. Similarly, he knew that he’d have to find a place with cover as soon as possible. Unlike when he was running through the dead forest and crags, the area he was in was essentially a stone quarry.

There was little to no cover to be seen. What was available was broken boulders and holes in the ground. Worse yet, it seemed like the beasts in this area were the numerous kind, rather than the powerful type. Meaning that he could get bogged down through sheer numbers if he wasn’t careful.

However, it seemed like he’d either lost his pursuers, or something else was going on. He’d seen few, if any patrols since entering this quarry-like area. But given the distance he still had to travel; he knew that he’d likely run into patrols of some sort once again.

Taking the chance to do so, Ezekiel planted a few of the Forest Spirit’s seeds in the shallower cracks and holes in the ground. Much like he had when he was traversing the Crag. He was now down to just under half the seeds that he’d been given. He knew he would have to wait until he reached a large encampment before he could use the rest.

Luckily for him, it seemed like there weren't going to be too many issues with finding shelter. Shine insisted on maintaining the Shroud for as long as possible, so Ezekiel could focus his mana purely on speeding up their running. As he did this, he saw that the edge of the quarry wasn’t too far in the distance. They’d be able to hopefully find a shelter of some sort soon. At which point, given the time, they’d likely prepare and get ready to sleep for the night.

Approaching the edge of the quarry, Ezekiel was so happy to once again be under cover of the canopy, as sparse and barren as it was. So focused on reaching the tree line, Ezekiel and Shine were both caught off guard as they crossed the threshold between the barren quarry and the forest.

Hidden beneath the branches and roots of the trees, a loud snapping twang reverberated through the trees. At the same moment, Ezekiel found himself diving into a roll as a barrage of wooden spears littered the ground around him, forcing him to reinforce his clothing, and causing his Shroud to break as he protected himself from the impacts.

As he got back onto his feet, he looked around just as several impacts were made around him. Three Cruor, a mix of Tier one and two, landed around him. Sparing a glance to the trees around him, he saw several barrels of spears held aloft in the trees bordering the quarry. Each one hidden in such a way, and at such a height, that they couldn’t be seen from the quarry side of the trees.

Tensing up, Ezekiel didn’t allow his enemies to speak before throwing up his Shroud once again. Watching as the three Cruor looked on in shock, one of them leaping forward. Allowing himself to fall into the now familiar mindset for battle, Ezekiel began his counterattack.

Not long ago, hidden in the trees on the edge of the quarry.

Azra was not young for a Cruor. She had long since reached adulthood, but even so, she had never managed to go beyond Tier one. No matter how hard she trained, or how many Umbral Beasts she consumed, even the scraps of meat of higher Tier beasts, she could not break through the final step to Tier two.

Her ichor was too thin, and thus, without a blessing from the Broodlord, she was forever bound in the body of a Cruor closest to the beasts her people hunted for food and sport. Her brothers had long since surpassed her, and in the process, they were permitted to command their own teams. Something she had long since given up on.

However, recently, news had been spread that a human had made their way into their territory on the island. This, of course, drew her interest. Everyone knew that the mana of Spirits and Humans was the most nourishing thing they could consume. Upon hearing about the human, she knew, without a doubt, that if she could consume them, and their mana, she would be able to break through.

Thus, she was one of the first to join the teams being organized to track and hunt down the human that had entered their territory. But after several days, she and her team had had little luck finding anything other than the remains of Umbral beasts being feasted upon as the human made their way further and further into their lands.

New information had been gained, however, and their superiors had managed to figure out the most likely path that the human would take. As such, she and her team were amongst the multiple teams that had been set up to prepare traps for when the human exited the quarry that was in their path.

All along the tree line, simple wire traps had been set up, with spears coated in ichor and tipped with talon shavings to enhance their lethality and cutting power had been set up. They were hidden beneath the roots and branches of the desolate trees so as to not be seen. So long as anything of a certain weight passed over them, they would trigger, causing numerous spears to fall over a large area where the trap was triggered.

Given how long the tree line was, only a few Cruor were able to look over the large areas that they were looking for. But, as luck would have it, the human passed through their area.

Azra had been shocked to see the human suddenly appear, their form becoming visible with the shattering of glass. She figured that this must’ve been a spell of some type. But the thing that surprised her most was the lack of mana. They had been warned that the human must’ve been quite strong, as they would need to be to get this far into their territory.

But this human seemed to have barely any mana at all. If they even had any. She wondered if eating them would actually allow her to break through.

A silent command brought herself and her teammates to the ground. Their leader, a Tier three with near human features, remained in the treetop. There was no reason for him to enter the battle. Judging from the size, the human was also a child. Likely separated from his own leader who must’ve been hiding elsewhere.

She and her two teammates landed on the ground. The human looked them over. She noticed his garb was strange, and they seemed to nearly blend into the background. Their features were completely concealed. She honestly wondered if, from the sky, they would be able to notice the human if they had chosen to stay still. Even without their hiding spell.

However, she had no more time to think of such things, as the human tensed before they turned invisible once again. She too tensed up, in preparation for whatever the human was going to do. She watched the ground carefully. The human was not going to flee past her.

The thought of a human without mana fighting her was so far from her mind that she didn’t even feel the blade cutting through her neck. As her head fell from her shoulders, she caught a brief glance of the human. Just as they turned invisible once again as her vision faded to nothingness.

Ezekiel grunted in pain as his Shroud broke for a third time. First from the spears, and second from when he had decapitated the Tier one Cruor closest to him. He had originally thought about trying to run again. But since he didn’t know if there were more traps further in, and he didn’t want word getting out and himself being hunted by larger numbers once again, he determined that battle was his only option.

So long as he managed to kill these three, he’d be able to buy himself some time to get further away. He might even be able to navigate through the traps more easily.

Unfortunately, it seemed like, after his sneak attack, the Cruor were more cautious, not allowing him the chance to get close as they flapped their wings, kicking up wind and dust. It wasn’t enough to break his Shroud, but the frantic movements made it difficult to get close enough to take out the other Tier one.

He knew that taking out the Tier two was going to be hard. But he still had one more spell to use against them that he was holding onto. So, he decided to risk it in getting closer to the remaining Tier one.

He managed to get near enough to slash them deep across the chest. Enough that he felt bone cracking beneath his sword. Unfortunately, he received a kick to the stomach in turn. Something that wouldn’t have happened if he’d been fighting an Umbral Beast. Something he needed to remind himself of. He was fighting warriors’ not beasts.

A bird-like shriek drew his attention as he reflexively threw up his Shroud and rolled away. A large talon slashed through the ground where he’d been laying. The Cruor seemed to have gone into a rage.

Narrowly dodging it, he darted behind a tree not too far away. That was a little bit too close for him, and he knew that running away might be his best option now. Even if the Cruor got away. He knew he’d overestimated his abilities, given that Cruor regularly took down Hunters in one-on-one combat, just as much as Hunters took down them, this should’ve been obvious.

Perhaps, if he still had the element of surprise, then it’d be fine, but he didn’t. However, to be safe as he ran, there was something he needed to do before it was too late.

Knowing it was likely that he would get captured at this point, if not killed, Ezekiel took a chance to take out his pouch of seeds and some water.

“What are you doing?! There’s a Tier two Cruor just behind this tree.” Shine mentally screamed at him.

“We might be getting caught soon. If they don’t kill me. So, I need to make sure that they don’t get you, or these seeds.” Ezekiel replied.

Upending the remaining seeds into his water pouch, Ezekiel chugged it down, swallowing the seeds given to him by the Forest Spirit. He couldn’t digest them, so this was a relatively safe place for them. Next, he reached into his Void Pouch, grabbing the small stature that Shine sometimes inhabited. Flexing his mana, he broke off one of the hands of the statue.

Behind him, Ezekiel could hear the Cruor shriek again. Turning himself invisible once more, he dashed around the tree. Picking up a rock, he threw it in another direction. He dashed behind another tree as the Tier two Cruor ran after the direction the stone made a sound.

“Inhabit this. It’ll be easier to keep on me than a sword if I get caught.” Ezekiel told Shine. He hid the stone hand from sight as he placed the statue back into his Void Pouch.

“But-”

“Now, Shine. We don’t have time to argue.” Ezekiel exclaimed. Shine fell silent, before a soft glow appeared over the sword. Hidden in his hand the small statue was placed on the sword. A slight shift was felt as Ezekiel sensed Shine’s soul coming from the statue’s hand.

“Sorry about this.” Ezekiel said before slipping the small stone hand into his under clothes. Ezekiel then secured his now soulless sword in its sheath before moving to run away. Reinforcing his Shroud before he did. Hoping that it would be enough to get them a bit further away.

“Right. Now it’s time to go.” Ezekiel ran in the opposite direction of the Cruor. Breathing heavily as he did. But he’d barely made it a dozen steps before Shine screamed at him again.

“BACK RIGHT!!!”

Ezekiel didn’t even think, he just threw his sword, still sheathed, into a blocking position as he tried to turn away. His mana flared as he pushed everything that he had into blocking this attack. But it was all for nothing as the sword in his hands snapped in two. Briefly, he felt his feet fly out from underneath him, but the next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain in his back and head as he impacted a large tree over a dozen feet away.

Falling several feet to the ground, having impacted several feet up, Ezekiel crumpled. His body was on fire, and he wasn’t sure if he had broken anything. He had reinforced his body to the maximum that he could, but the blow was the strongest hit he’d ever received. Forcing himself to look up, he saw a nearly human Cruor looking down on him. He idly looked over his large taloned hand.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel like he’d been lucky. The Cruor had obviously just guessed where he was at. As the strike hadn’t hit him with the talons, rather, it was the forearm area that had impacted his sword, snapping it in two but not cutting Ezekiel when it his him after.

“Ezekiel! Are you alright!? How did he know where you were?” Shine was frantically trying to check on Ezekiel.

“Conceal your mana! He must’ve heard my breathing and made an attack based on that.” Ezekiel said. “This guy’s at least Tier three. There’s nothing we can do right now.”

Shine fell silent. Retracting their mana as much as they could. They doubted that the Cruor could sense the difference between their mana, but that wasn’t an excuse to not be careful. They both became nervous as the Cruor approached them.

“You are a very lucky child.” The Cruor said. His voice was a deep baritone that Ezekiel didn’t think matched his thin and graceful, if inhuman, figure. “If not for my brother’s warning, we might never have set up these traps in time. But word travels fast when you can fly. Far faster than a child like you can run.”

Reaching down, the Cruor grabbed Ezekiel by the back of his coat, picking him up and raising him to look him in the eyes. Ezekiel let out a grunt of pain. The Cruor looked at him with disdain. As if he was disgusted by Ezekiel’s presence. Ezekiel readied himself to channel his mana into the seeds in his stomach. If it looked like he was about to die, he would at least die causing trouble for the Cruor.

“As much as I would like to simply kill you, it seems like several others want you alive. To question you, and find out how you, a Spiritless human, managed to get this far into our territory.” The Cruor said in dissatisfaction. “Although, they said nothing about the condition you needed to be in.”

Ezekiel attempted to raise his broken sword, but it slipped through his fingers. He was no longer worried about dying before he could set off the Forest Spirit’s seeds. Instead, he did his best to isolate them in his stomach.

Seeing Ezekiel’s movements, the Cruor smirked before slamming Ezekiel against the tree again. This time knocking him out.