Throughout the next week, mass reinforcement retreats trickled out of the city. What once was over 100,000 individuals, dwindled to a little over 42,000 in the timeframe of only a month. The more that left, the more morale dropped in the remaining forces and families, and they too, went home.
Many temporary shelters were left vacant after everyone that wanted to leave, had left. The town felt…hollow…compared to how bustling it had been. Children still ran around and played in the streets, and by no mean was the town quiet, but compared to how many finley there was before….the difference was clearly notable.
The soldiers that were left stood around 28,000 strong, and Vortea began pushing the finley under her even more than before in the training. They have no idea when Hollow was going to strike next, and they needed to be absolutely prepared for when he showed up again.
The generals working alongside Vortea stared at the Dual Draken with awe as she did ‘hands-on’ brawling with her finley, noting a very odd style of fighting she was demonstrating that involved absolutely no touching….the Draken shouted those words constantly, the repetition of the phrase ringing around the sparring grounds and reaching the ears of the others around them as they too sparred.
She directed that they needed to focus more on blocking, evading touch, and learning how to deflect magic blasts. The last time they fought, that's mainly what the opposing force used against them, and they needed to be stronger on that front, more prepared, better armed.
Weeks slowly turned into months, and the weather started turning colder. Food storage and preparation had begun already and was in full swing, and the approaching winter made everybody more anxious for whats to come. The temporary shelters around town were bolstered for warmth, and the underground bunkers dug out for the wartime hideaways were utilized in housing many a soldier as a secure and easily warmed area away from the chilly weather. Families who lived in the lean-tos were moved into the large and spacious Guild Hall for extra security, and soon it was turned into a large and homey space.
Soon it was late into the autumn season, and Leaves were blowing around the ground, highlighting the bare branches full of color just the week before. The adults of town started setting up some Hallowturne decor and hanging traditional Spect wards in the midst of everything to lift the downed spirits and ward away the last of the hungrier negative spirits that may wish to feed from the town. The children deserved a bit of normalcy in their lives due to how everything for them has been turned on its head, so the town decided that celebrating a harvest holiday associated with joy in darkness seemed a fitting solution.
Many parents and adults gathered to start making candy for the little ones, using the dwindling sugar supplies to create the candies and distributing the precious sweets around town for the young ones going door to door. Children created ragtag costumes, squealing in delight as they ran around with fistfulls of sweets as nighttime creeped upon them.
A few adults even joined in on the fun, donning festive attire and wandering around with the young ones, playing spooky pranks and telling traditional stories by the fireplace at one of the Inns. There were bonfires in the outskirts, with finley serving warming beverages for those who wandered out for various activities in the big fields.
A Nyulop dressed in snazzy spats and a festive vest with a matching hat, told stories to little ones around one of the bonfires lit in the Outskirts by the forest's edge. They told vivid stories, using a mix of magic and their paws to manipulate the shadows into scary Hallowturne beasties that made the kits, draklings, and starlits screech and giggle in fright. The children ran to grab their parents so they too, could listen to the fantastical tales….but when they gathered back, the Nyulop had vanished.
The celebrations and joyous laughter continued into the night, tinting the sky orange with firelight, and making the air light with joy and chatter. Many adults were having fun for the first time in months, and the shared candy, drinks, and equally joyous companions by them were intoxicating in spreading cheer. It was a good night in Spirits Grove, something that every one of the finley there had desperately needed.
That night marked the first snowfall of the year, meeting many a tired finley looking out the window the morning after with a thick fresh blanket of smooth white snow.
The generals in charge of the platoons were a bit more generous due to the night before and how party happy everyone had been, so training was called off for that day, only calling for a handful of finley to clear the streets properly and do checks on the farms and livestock like normal. A day of families, and warm meals, and amicable chatter was long awaited and happily greeted, with many finleys spirits renewed from the celebrations prior.
Vortea, using this chance to get away from training for a bit, invited Tatshka out with her to go for a stroll in the outskirts, using the excuse of ‘going scouting’ to get the other to come along, though no further convincing was really needed. The small Gravity Astralit hops off her bed with a snort, wraps a warm cloak around her body, and grabs her carved dagger that she brought from Xaaida, attaching it to her hip securely in its sheath. Kitshi lays on her bed, stretching with a yawn, and curling up tighter underneath the pillows Tatshka has laying down for him.
The pair walk out of Bluesky Inn, chatting amicably before stepping out into the brisk morning air. It was an overcast day, still flurrying, and there was a bit of a stiff breeze sweeping through the prairie. Thankfully it was not strong enough to blow the now heavy wet snow around, but it was enough to blow a chill through ones body. Vortea shivers a bit, and wraps her warm, blue silknit-wool cloak around her tighter.
Both finley walk through the morning patrols path, brown grass peeking through the partially melted paw and clawsteps. There was a pleasant silence hanging in the air between them and Vortea shly reaches a hand out to Tatshka to hold, and the Astralit looks up at the other out of the side of her eye with a little coy smile. She takes the others claws in her own, and they continue walking down the path, eventually veering off to a small clearing with some boulders in it. Both of the girls faces are red, with small nervous flustered smiles on both of their features as they go to sit on one of the smaller boulders, the cold wind blowing between the bare trees naught but an afterthought.
Leaning in, Vortea closes her eyes, and gingerly touches her gem to the others forehead, nuzzling the round cabochon against the others soft headfluff. The intimate and incredibly close action sends a shiver through her body, and even Tatshkas fur fluffed up as she let out a quiet gasp when she realized what Vortea was doing. In response to the gem cuddle, she raises her head a bit and guides Vorteas head down to hers softly with one of her hands, and ever so gently kisses the other…their mouths meeting in a tender embrace.
Though it felt like a happy weightless eternity, they came back to their senses after a minute and Vortea scoots Tatshka over to her side and under her large cloak, snuggling the Astralit close to her side with cheeks red from more than just the cold. Scales brushed against fur, and claws hold one another, and caress faces sweetly as they cuddle and kiss one another, and mumble cute phrases and lovable compliments from under the garment for what seems like ages…but in reality has only been like an hour at most.
The two eventually separate, and begin their walk back to the town through the woods, still holding hands. Most of the snow was puddles at this point, and they followed the path back to the outer Outskirts, chatting and giggling to one another happily. As they approached the general town limit however….Vortea got an alert from Ashen to look down…..and as she does, Vortea just barely spots a pile of pitch black ooze seeping into the mud at the base of a bush.
The sight causes Vortea to quickly scoop Tatshka up in her arms in alarm, and take flight towards the town's boundaries. The Astralit screeches at the sudden lift and takeoff, clinging to the Dual Draken desperately, and Vortea explains what she seen to her new…Mark? She guessed was the closest thing they could call one another. Tatshkas eyes widen at what Vortea explains, and she nods curtly…still clinging fairly tightly to the other as security.
They land in front of the Town Hall, and rush inside and ask to see the Mayors. Hyndrel was out at the moment, but Gale was in, and so they were led to her office. Explaining what they saw, the Wind Drakens eyes widen, and she quickly stands up and starts tapping a message to the telegraphers office to alert the other cities and towns nearby that there has been enemy activity spotted by their town again. Vortea goes outside after letting Gale know, and she goes to alert the patrols at the Guild Hall, and word quickly spreads around to the other Inns. The finley in town were on edge at the announcement, and many waited around with weapons and bated breath.
Patrols were sent out into the woods and fields nearby, weapons and armor fully on display while the daylight was still on their side. Lit torches and flame enchants were carried with many of the soldiers on patrol, as fire proved to be one of only effective elemental weapons against the Voidstructs. They went up to five miles away from town, scrubbing the bare undergrowth for any sign of Voidstructs….but came up empty handed. The next morning, the patrols arrive back in town, and feed their report back to their supervisors, stating the local forests and plains are clear of any sign of Voidstruct, or really any enemy sign.
This left both Mayors extremely confused, and they begin to discuss what could be going on. The next few days were spent on high alert for any signs of Hollow making another move onto the town, but Winter was quickly making its move in, and any signs that may have been there have been covered up by the ground slowly freezing, and snow becoming more frequent.
Spiritualists, Astralits from Starshine Shores, and the patrols worked closely together to monitor the energies and spirits around the town, making sure the Faes and Guardians of the area weren't sensing any uneasy differences, and they closely monitored the town for any Spects as well. For the start of the Winter season, much of the town remained steady and normal.
Weeks passed and Winter deepened, and Vortea even got to the point of thinking that she maybe seen something, that Ashen might've had a false alarm somehow…which they didn't quite enjoy Vortea implying. That was until there was another sighting of a Voidstruct INSIDE of the towns boundaries. The creature was seen slinking up and almost getting into someone's house and under their window, but was quickly dispatched by patrolling Town Guards that were alerted to the screams and shouts of alarm.
It was right before the Season of Kindreaux started, and finley were decorating the town in festive decor. Wreaths, garland, tinsel were strewn around gayly, and snow lay thick on the ground, and the last thing anybody was expecting was an active undetected threat. Nerves that had just calmed down were at sky high levels again, and many finley were walking around with sheathed weapons close by at hand once again. The Mayors put extra finley on patrol both in town, and on the land surrounding Spirits Grove as extra security measures.
Fire Draken and Alchemist Nyulop were going around and clearing the snow piles around the town, making bare ground the easiest to see so nothing could lurk inside snow banks and harm somebody. They don't fully know what the Voidstructs were capable of besides seemingly mindless violence, but they don't need to learn anything additional by somebody dying from an unexpected attack.
Curfews were soon set up in the town, and nobody except those who were out on patrols, or those in an emergency situations were allowed out after dusk or before dawn.
Despite the situations at hand, many finley still tried to celebrate the season's joy. Provisions harvested during the fall time garnished tables, cured meats, and rich puddings and sweets laid out for those to feast upon. Gifts were exchanged between others, snowfin were made, and even snowball fights took place during the daytime! Kids were keeping high spirits thanks to the adults' hard work and convenient distractions.
However, despite the rising spirits, drills and battle training still persisted in the fields around town, only stopping for blizzards, and cold too bitter to stand for anybody but the fuzziest Nyulops, and Ice Draken. Vortea and the other generals insisted that their soldiers keep in good shape, and excersice often, training persistently until near collapse in some cases.
Many soldiers that stayed in the underground bunkers got a bit stir crazy being underground all the time, so rotating drills and training at any hour for groups over twenty were put in place to help with the winter restlessness.
Vortea and Tatshka were among the restless, and they often joined patrols to scout around the perimeters of town. Vortea just felt that something was coming constantly, like a never ending sense of impending doom lingering overhead. She felt on edge, ready to fight, and Ashen felt much the same. The suddenly appearing Voidstructs around town were not helping anything, and had everybody in a bit of a jumpy mood too, which resulted in more arguments and other conflicts amongst the townsfolk.. Shadows and puddles were regarded with suspicion, and doors and windows had tightly shut seals to prevent any unwanted nighttime intruders. The Spiritualists in town made Spect warding charms, and constantly cleansed the airs around town to keep the negative spiritual influences at bay…but those could only do so much with the prevailing energies of Dark Year around.
One of the only exciting good things to happen in the Winter was a fresh shipment of food, and new weapons, straight from Aureum. With this shipment, a new weapon was delivered that made the Leporid residents in Spirits Grove holler with excitement. They were called ‘Revolvers’, and were a specialty weapon produced in Aurem called ‘Guns’.
Most finley had never seen such a novelty weapon before, and were fascinated by the shape and wondered what they could do. A few lessons from the local Aurem residents quickly demonstrated the correct way of handling, packing, shooting, and cleaning of the guns, and with the Mayors permission, gathered the weapons up and toted them to the Town Hall.
There was a good six crates packed full of guns, and another fifteen crates filled with ammunition rounds, which had the Aurem Leps extremely excited. Hoots and hollers were abound aplenty, and the firearms were soon moved for distribution. The higher ups in the army received their weapons first, being trained by the Aurem Leps on how to properly aim, fire, and clean their weapon to keep it in top running shape. Vortea and the other generals were some of the lucky ones picked to bear one of these new weapons, and the excitement for this was tangible in the best way.
Classes held outside in the fieds were watched by many in the army, and the new owners of the guns began trying them out and testing their aim for the first time. Many were….not that great of shots, requiring fixes to their aim and additional instruction. Vortea missed her first few shots as well, the revolver feeling odd in her claws, and the kick from the firing of the gun throwing her off as well. Eventually though, she got the hang of it, and was able to make three bullseyes in a row, quicker than everybody else so far had managed.
After the days practice, they gathered the shells of the bullets that were reserved specifically for practice, and took them to the town's main Smithy. The Aurem Leps requested that she should smelt some of the lead she had laying around and melt them into bullets meant for practicing, mainly so they didnt waste more precious ammo they had limited quantities of.
Agreeing after a bit of convincing, the Leps helped the smithy draft moulds for the casings, and eventually got a good enough bulk design down that she could easily replicate and produce a good amount of practice bullets for the army to continue working with.
The whole ordeal only took a few days, and many of the new gun owners were excited to get back to practicing with their new “toys”. The residents of Aurem were sure in the meanwhile to tell tales to the residents of the town about epic gunfights, showdowns, enthralling competitive shooting contests on vark-back, and other gun related sports that had the Spirits Grove army in a tizzy of excitement and question at the mere thought.
Although they made the weapons sound extremely cool, they also made sure to tell of how destructive they could be, as a warning to those reckless enough to goof around with their weapon.
Faces torn to shreds in bloodiest manner possible by rouge gunshots or improperly cleaning a gun without its safety on, dangerous gambling games involving a roulette with guns being in your mouth and finley dying by shooting themselves through the head from not picking the right choice, or even children getting ahold of an unsupervised weapon, and accidentally hurting themselves, their siblings or parents, or even dying from gunshot wounds they inflicted on themselves from improper handling…
Guns being a way of living for the Leporids meant that the thing that brought them a way of getting by, also brought death and destruction, and that demanded the proper respect towards the tool they wielded in order to survive in the harsh environment from which they hail.
Months passed as preparations doubled down during Winters quieter period. Food storages, while well prepped, were starting to look thinner due to more children being added to the town due to so many finley being inside more, and obviously the population undergoing a minor bump due to such.
Around 380 new finley were born into the town from November to February, and while it made everything a little bit tighter foodwise….the new faces and bright eyes imbued hope and vigor into the parents and the towns fighters, wanting to give the brand new babies a bright, safe, and open future to grow up in.
A few large snowstorms hit during this time, causing chaos in the town due to the multiple feet of snow dumped upon the township….cheerful times and celebration happens as the New Year rolls in, with dreams of spring and new life….more training happens….things were passing by in a blur. Days seem to blend into each other, and many cannot wait for the dreary cold weather to finally move on.
Heartsgiving waltzed by with many a sweet gift and snuggly finley, accidental Bleeding Hearts were abound in the Nyulop population, and many a matchmade pair or polycule were put together by local Astralit matchmaker specialists exercising their craft through a little evening celebration put together by the Mayors.
Treats and drinks made with Heart’s Desire fruits coming into season were abound, and the finley consuming the delicious sweet fruits only became more lovey-dovey than before, and Vortea and Tatshka were none the different.
The two finley danced in the middle of the makeshift de-snowed dancefloor amidst the other couples and polycules beside them, looking at one another with the most tender of gazes as the musicians in back played saccharine tuned to match the mood.
The soft lantern light illuminating everything lit each of their features wonderfully, and Tatshka leans her head against Vortea’s chest, which caused the Drakens heartbeat to quicken considerably. Both due to the extremely close proximity of her Marked, and also how close the others head was to Ashen’s gem, embedded in her chest. Not wanting to draw the Astralits attention to the hidden object under her cloak, Vortea changes the position they were dancing in, twirling Tatshka a bit, and catching her by surprise.
Both finley giggle, kiss one another, and continue to dance the evening away, well into the night.
Soon after Heartsgiving passes, the first buds of Spring started showing on the branches around town, crocus flowers and green grass shoots springing forth from the mud under the snow. Days slowly grew longer, and the new finley born during the Winter got their first peek into what a green world looks like.
Earth Draken began tilling the farmland around the town to wake the soil up, and many who had been sheltering in the underground bunkers for winter began making plans for the lean-tos around town to be reconstructed for proper housing once again. Weather grew warmer, and everything seemed to finally be releasing from the icy grasp of Winter's claws. With the return of better weather, everybody started being twice as alert as previously, especially with the Voidstructs still lurking around every once in a while. One hasn't been spotted in a few weeks, but it was still recent enough to have everybody on guard, especially with the softer ground, and the creatures being able to hide more easily than before.
Once mid-Spring hit, Vortea was damn near breaking out in anticipation. She could sense something was wrong, something was coming, and she needed to find out what it was, and when it was coming. Things had been too quiet since the battle last Summer, and the stress and constant worry of what was going to happen, what was currently going on, where her rival…? she supposed she would call him, was hiding.
So, taking matters into her own claws for a day, she let her platoon know that she was going on an errand run, and let the Mayors know that she would be out of town for a day or two, packed a light bag with some provisions, her gun, ammo, and her sword, went to go say goodbye to Tatshka, and took off from the backyard of Bluesky Inn.
Flying high above Klaedons center, her eyes scanned the land beneath her, letting Ashen assist her senses to detect any abnormalities or higher energies around them….and so far, nothing in the immediate vicinity was triggering her senses to pay extra attention. The Morray Forest wasn’t drawing too much of Vortea’s attention…..until Ashen perked up, and told Vortea to go Northwest after picking up a bit of a lead.
Following the internal instructions, she veered midair to face the correct way, and continued onwards, picking up speed as she races towards where Ashen sensed something. The flight was around a three or four hour trip, and she lands in front of the base of one of the smaller Morray Mountains West of Spirits Grove…where there was a seemingly inconspicuous crag leading into the interior.
The woods around the area looked ... .fairly normal, no new budding leaves seemed to be affected by anything, the grass was rich and green, bushes sprouting as normal. But the cave had a strangely magnetic draw to it. Drawing her gun carefully, she proceeds to load and pack it with bullets like she was taught, clicks the barrel back in, and holds her finger on the small area above the trigger space as a safety precaution.
Stepping foot inside of the cave…she could immediately tell something was here. The air was thick, and icy cold, even so close to the entrance. Glow worms hung from the stalactites on the ceiling above, giving a faint green-blue light to the moisture-wet walls.
Her claws click on the rocky ground beneath her, kicking small pebbles out of the way as she walks deeper into the cavern. She feels something swoop over her head, and her eyes widen as she spots….a Drakesprite?? The tiny, mythical creature swoops around her playfully, letting out a small squeak as it flies above the rocky obstacles, and disappears into the gloomy murk. Several more squeaks follow it, and a small commotion of fluttering wings fly above Vortea’s head in the dark, and she looks up instinctually, though not spotting anything. She figured out that this cave must be the location of a Drakesprite colony, which she kept in the back of her mind for later exploration with a group.
Continuing to walk deeper into the cave, she suddenly halts as her foot meets with something, and it skates across the floor with a clattering tinking sound. Using a bit of light, she finds what her foot had hit..and picks up a strangely lightweight, translucent greyish-black crystal. Examining the object curiously, Vortea realizes this is what Ashen was detecting this whole time.
Wisps of Void energy radiated off of the shard, and lifting her light up further, looks around and seen the floor of the cavern absolutely littered with similarly sized, or even larger shards of the same material. Curious, she leans in to investigate a few more, fitting them into her bag as she goes along.
She spends a few more minutes snooping around….until she spots something that makes her blood chill. Amongst a larger pile of the Void essence shards…she sees a perfectly rounded, oval gem…It doesn't have any color to it just being a vague grey hue all over, and it looks much different than the other crystals around it.
Picking it up, she realizes what she is holding is indeed, a fallen Drakens’ Third Eye gem, and she gasps and drops it quickly. Suddenly feeling her stomach turn violently, Vortea backs out of the scene, and races towards the entrance of the cave, being able to just barely see the bright speck of light in front of her.
She drops her torch in her fleeing moment, but she doesn't pay any mind to the fallen light, only interested in getting out of whatever sick place she was just in, ignores the flurry of Drakesprites she just disturbed, and immediately takes to the skies again once she's in the open air and outside of the cave.
Her heart races in her chest for at least ten minutes after she had left, and she cannot shake the eerie feeling of picking someone's gem off the ground…something horrendous happened in that cave for that to even be possible. Not wanting to linger on it too much, she continued flying further Southeast, covering ground away from Spirits Grove. Hours passed in silence, not a word, or a thought exchanged between Vortea and the being inside her. She fortunately didn't pick up any unusual detections either, despite the silence between the two. Ashen was still looking out for any signatures of Void energy around them and detecting extremely small scattered amounts, but nothing major.
Eventually, Vortea gets tired enough to want to stop for the day, the dying rays of light on the horizon signaling that it had been a long day of flight, and a rest was well deserved. Setting up a small campsite, she settles in for the night, sitting by the small fire she had set up to provide light, and cooks the night's meal.
Early the next morning the Draken packs her small camp up, kicks dirt over the extinguished fire, and takes to the skies again. She was roughly 70ish miles away from Spirits Grove at this point, and the landscape was morphing from flat prairie plainland to more hill-filled plains filled with dense pine and oak forests scattered about. In the distance, she could spot what looks like a small town that looks….off.
She checks in with Ashen, who agrees it would be a good place to check out for any leads. Veering gently to the left, she heads towards the towns outskirts, and after about half an hour of flying, lands around 100 feet away from what she guesses is the main entrance to the town…and sees very quickly that something is very, very wrong here.
Black sludge covers the walls and buildings of the town, and the eerie ‘faces’ of the Voidstructs emerge from the piles of goo at sensing her presence come closer. Peeking into the town further, she seen structures were knocked down by some great force and broken glass, weapons, and ripped apart homes lay in the streets. Charred wood, burned bodies, and burnt stone lay scattered across the ground, some parts even still smouldering away in sheltered places…the wind was blowing away from this place so she did not smell the burning or the smoke, and it was very clear that Void forces were in the area very close, and this damage was extremely recent.
Not wanting to draw additional attention to herself, Vortea mumbles a quiet prayer over the remains of the small town, and quickly flies off to write her findings down. Being very much on the alert for any signs of hostile activity, she lands around a mile away in a lush forested clearing, and her hands shook a bit as she sits on a log and takes her journal out to begin documenting, getting a rough sketch of what she seen, what shape the town was in, and what activity that she noticed.
Ashen, suddenly peeks up, alerting Vortea of a quick bout of strong Void energy, and she looks around on full alert, puts her journal in a front pocket on her outfit, and lays a hand quickly on her sword. The environmental ambiance of the forest had swiftly came to a halt around her shortly after Ashen raised the alarm, and the sounds of bugs, birds, and small animals wandering around suddenly silenced…which made the bright midday spring pine forest around her eerie, even in broad daylight.
Vortea feels a presence behind her, and she quickly turns to face whatever it is she felt, and comes gaze to gaze with who she can only assume is the Keystone Void-Sent Hollow himself.
The Draken was in a stark monochrome in comparison to the vibrant greenery around his form. Dark grey scales covered the majority of his body, with darker grey contoured claws and feet lined in pitch black marking the only ‘color’ present. Long black bangs covered the upper half of his face, just barely concealing the stark black Third Eye Gem in the middle of his head….matched by solid, pupiless dark eyes. Coal colored sickle shaped horns grace his head, the faceted diamond gemstone marking the source of his power and near godlike status floating effortlessly between the points.
The only clothing the other wore was a modified version of the uniform that the devotees of the Circles and the Deity-Sent wore as a sign of their devotion with a pure white flowing cloak behind it, and the thought of something like that being on a Sent individual of his reputation makes Vorteas’ ear twitch the slightest bit in terse amusement.
In her mind, Vortea can feel Ashen bristle violently at the sight of their fated opposite, and her claws itched with the want to attack, but, using a near impossible amount of willpower…managed to talk the other down a notch so she could perhaps talk to the other Sent in front of them.
“I know who you are, and what you have done so far, and i know why you were sent here. We have a chance to wrap this all up once and for all, and return things to proper balance, and return you and Ashen back to where you came from. We dont have to throw away any more lives!”
Vortea waits in tense silence for the other to answer…to only be greeted by a dark chuckle that graduated into a full on harsh laugh as he shook his head with a sneer on his muzzle.
“Child, you are a fool for even thinking that. I'm not leaving until this world is nothing but a blank canvas. It needs to be brought back to a fresh start, a clean slate. It's too far gone, too out of balance. You could join me, you know....Bring things to life the proper way, restore the world and we could make it perfect, the way it SHOULD have been, where we aren't feared, or cast away because of who we are…It's your call, however.
Do you really want to continue this silly fight? Kill more of the finley under your command? Watch them wither away under my Toucheds’ claws, when you know you have the power to stop all of it?”
It was like Hollow wasn’t even talking to her…he was talking past her, seemingly trying to taunt Ashen to the surface. Still, Vortea’s brow furrows on her forehead at the other's words, and her stomach sinks. So many lives have gone to waste already, so many finley don't even exist anymore due to that fight…but many many others depended on their fight against Hollow, many others counted on them and the town to keep their world safe…
Vortea looks up determinedly, her eyes meeting the solid black ones of the Draken in front of her.
‘Yes, I will continue this fight, and so will the ones behind me. We aren't giving up, or giving in to your pressure, and I refuse to assist in the destruction of this world just for some stupid ego trip of yours, and how YOU think the world should be. I refuse to stand by idly and witness this foolish idea come to fruition.’
With that, Vortea slowly backs up through the grassy clearing, her eyes meeting with Hollows and refusing to peel away from the others razor sharp glare. Spreading her wings, she takes flight, still refusing to break eye contact until she was extremely high in the air, and then she zips off like a bat out of hell. In reality while Vortea acted calm in that situation, she was utterly terrified of what she just met.
Being so close to the Void-Sent, and the fact he didn’t DO anything to stop her, filled her with dread.
What was he planning…why didn’t he do anything to stop her from running away?? The thoughts kept her going, the surges of adrenaline coursing through her veins keeping her in flight for the remainder of the day and well through the night as well.
By the time dawn was creeping upon the horizon, she had Spirits Grove within her sights, and the Draken landed inside the town as the first rays of sun touched the buildings inside.
Vortea’s body ached from flying for so long, but she ignored the fatigue, and ran to the town hall, hoping one of the Mayors was in early, she had to warn them about what she had been through, and what they need to do next. Fortunately, Mayor Gale was just heading into her office for the day, and Vortea burts into her office after her, quite out of breath.
The sudden intrusion badly startled the Wind Draken, and she dropped her various papers and folders in shock, and whirls around to face the heavily panting Dual in surprise. Vortea holds a single claw up, still catching her breath while holding the other Draken silent for the meanwhile. When she finally gets her wind back, she apologizes for the scare, but with serious urgency in her voice, lets Gale know what happened on her solo expedition to the south, and about the shard filled cave she stumbled upon to the northwest…and most importantly, her confrontation with the Void-Sent.
Gale looked abhorred at the news, pale eyes wide in shock…and upon seeing the small crystalline shards from Vortea’s pack, she sat down and stared at them on her desk. Vortea still looked tense, looking at the Mayor in an urgently stressed way, trying to read her features to see what the other was thinking.
Gale finally spoke up after a few minutes, letting Vortea know that she will discuss what to do with Hyndrel later that day, and let her know what they plan to do next.
Vorteas face falls at hearing this, and she tries to speak up again, to push her points urgency more, but Gale gives Vortea a silent, pleading, yet tired look as to let the other know she's doing the most she can manage at this point in time.
With a sigh, the Dual gets up after thanking the Mayor for her time, and steps out of the office, and makes her way back to the front lobby and main doors. Most others who work in the front offices haven’t came into their jobs yet due to how early it still is, and the gleaming orange rays of light greet Vortea’s eyes as she opens the solid wooden doors that lead out to the just stirring towns main street.
Finley started to come out from the Inns and from their homes and lean-tos, stretching and greeting one another pleasantly, some looking over to the Dual Draken making her way through the town, and waving. Vortea waves back to those that greet her, putting on a fake smile to not alarm the various families, and her claws click against the cobblestones in the path as she walks down the street and heads to the lakeshore down the way to gather her thoughts.
Grass turned to sand and pebbles, and the soft lapping of the waves on the shoreline was relaxing enough to put Vorteas anxious nerves at a bit of ease once she arrived. Finding a place out of sight to sit down in the sand, she leans against a nearby boulder, and stares up at the soft pink, purple, and orange sky with a sigh. If yesterday was any indication of how things were to go soon…she doesn't know if she would be properly ready…
Her eyes close in concentration, using a tip that Tatshka taught her to meditate and calm herself down to properly focus on her thoughts. If things were to be headed south in the manner that she was predicting, she needed to be working a lot harder on improving her own physical form and improving the connection between her and Ashen to reduce any potential conflict during the middle of battle like what happened during the big fight last summer.
With their further reduced fighting numbers, every single finley in the proper shape for battle was more important than ever, and she knew that this fight may be the most important in her life. If Hollow was to show up himself this time for the fight, things would most likely end up with the both of them head to head…fighting to the death of one, or to mutual destruction of them both.
The Drakens eyes open wearily, her own thoughts and worries preventing her from meditating and calming herself properly. Hollow couldn’t make the journey to Spirits Grove so quickly, especially if he has considerable forces in tow, let alone as fast as the fear induced flight she herself recently completed. Knowing there’s no way in the Circles’ Rings that she could possibly calm her racing thoughts in the current moment, she stands back up from her seated position on the lakeshore beach and dusts herself free of the sand that clings to her outfit.
Sitting still wasn’t doing her any good in the headspace, maybe walking would help her smooth out some of the anxiety and racing thoughts?
Looking up at the sky and still detemining that its early enough to get away with a quick walk through the Outskirts before having to report in for training, she makes her way to the dewstrung forest in front of her using a well worn hiking path that snakes its way through the trees at a leasurely winding pace.
It was a good couple hours spent meandering through the lush spring forest, organizing thoughts, talking to Ashen internally, getting a group plan together, and documenting it all down in her now rather crammped journal, and by the time the sun was sitting in the sky at about ten am, she was feeling much more relaxed and organized.
Making her way back to town, she returned to Bluesky Inn and went to her room to unpack and hopefully wake up a bit more. Glancing outside through her ground-story window, she could already see the drills starting way out in the plains and knew she would need to hurry to not be entirely too late. Quickly getting into a fresh shirt, she clips her swords sheath onto her waistbelt, packs her canteen of fresh water that she quickly freshens up with a bout of Purifying magic, and hurries through the crowded front room.
The wafts of freshly made breakfast rolls taunted her nostrils as she races out the front door, and she regrets not having enough time to stop and grab one of the delectable smelling bites from the dining hall.
Vortea takes flight once she gets into open air, and glides over to the training fields, landing smoothly and putting her gear by where the others belongings sat. A few heads looked up, and nodded at the Draken respectfully as she passed by and took her place with the other heads.
She greeted the others, and fell into the comforting routine of physical work and drills, distracting herself from the internal buzzing still plaguing her mind. At the midday lunch break, Tatshka sits down by her and they quietly chat while eating, Vortea spilling a small amount of her worries onto the others awaiting ears. The Astralit comforts her Mark, holding the Draken’s blue claw in her own and kissing the top softly, stroking it gently with her thumbs and comforting the others stress.
Tatshka can tell theres something more that is bothering Vortea….the stress in her eyes and near pleading look of desparation that lie within them screamed at her that she has something inside that needs to come out…but the Dual remains silent, and sighs as she closes her eyes and leaned against the other lightly. They remain that way until the alarm for lunch rings out, and they gather their belongings and return to the field
The town and its citizens continued on as normal for a couple weeks, but soon things notably started looking…wrong. Leaves of trees that had bright green spring growth started withering, turning black and falling to the ground without a hard frost to cause such a change. Young crops springing up strong just a few days before, shriveled up, despite the best Earth Draken tackling the sudden plant deaths.
Animals and livestock were on edge, distressed calls ringing throughout the night, no matter what comforts were offered, and many folks became on edge and irritable at the loss of sleep that suddenly plagued them.
Vortea became irate upon witnessing this all….she knew who was coming, she could feel the dread build in her gut, could feel Ashen getting riled up again and waking their powers up….She even had a few slips of Creation magic come out on accident due to this, and she thankfully could play it off as just nervous spark energies, or rogue static electricity increased in intensity by her Lightning heritage.
Patrols ramped up around town at all hours of the day, many finley volunteering their help towards keeping the town safe in the wake of the sudden negative shift. Voidstructs started appearing again, larger and more developed bipedal entities coming in from the prairies and forests nearby.
Fights became longer, more fierce, taking more of a toll as the beasts grew bigger, stronger. They knew by these now increasing threats and warning signs that the Void was coming in for a second wave….and they were unfortunately correct about this.
It was a week later, April 24th, 2012, at 11 A.M. Vortea had been feeling off all day, an uneasy, restless sense of dread filling her body despite the lovely calm day, and so she took Tatshka and her platoon out for an armored patrol just to put her sense of dread at ease, and to inspect the areas around the town for any dangers.
Ashen was agitated as well, their presence sneaking into every limb and actively scratching at her nerves which caused her body to unpleasantly buzz as if filled with Elys Bees. The pace she set off for the start of the route was a very brisk jog to hopefully burn off some of the frantic building energy inside of her body.
Shortly after the Create-Sents host has left the premises of Spirits Grove, the first ranks of Void-Touched poured into the town's outskirts, launching a surprise attack onto the town with no previous warning or message unlike last summer's battle. Families were out and about in the lovely springtime air, and were only alerted to find cover by the shrill screams of terror emanating from the edges of town as finley caught off guard were slain without mercy.
Patrolling finley that managed to escape the first wave of Touched in the surrounding forest raced out from the woods, screaming for others to rally their weapons and take formation. It was a frantic flurry of limbs and finley seeking cover, children wailing at the sudden upset, and panicked teens and parents trying to run to the bunkers beneath the town and in the fields for safety. The center of the town was a heaving mass of rushing bodies, colliding and rushing to various places and causing more chaos than there already was in the area.
Shouts and shrieks filled the air, and some smaller finley even ended up trampled underfoot in the mad dash of claws and paws tearing through the streets of town. Kind souls helped up those they could without getting injured themselves, and the non-fighting folk eventually ended where they were supposed to go ... .but not without a large amount of civilian casualties due to the invading forces.
The underground bunkers had their entrances collapsed by the assigned Earth Draken builders amongst them, and they were properly sealed away from any threats, and due to the decreased amount of finley present in the town compared to the first attack, they managed to fit the majority of the vulnerable townsfolk inside of the protective shelters. The families that couldn't fit fled to woods and fields south of town, hoping to escape the attackers in time. The adult stragglers left in town that couldn't fit due to putting their children first, went to join the battling forces with armor and weapons thrown at them in a rush.
Armor was haphazardly thrown on in the heat of the moment, weapons grabbed in a flurry, and the Void forces started attacking with full fury. Shrieks echoed across the walls of the towns buildings, and roars of battle were let loose as the forces of Spirits Grove met the opposing intruders with clashing weapons, clangs of shields, and screams of pain and rage.
Void-Touched and Voidstructs of various sizes and classes were swarming the streets and narrow alleys of Spirits Grove, and Vortea’s patrolling squadron came back from their route in time to see the chaos that descended upon the town. They immediately lept into action, charging forward to provide reinforcements to the struggling forces inside and outside of Spirits Grove.
Vortea tells Tatshka to take half the platoon and go to the Outskirts, where the enemy was emerging from the woods opposite of the squadrons current position, and she would take the other half and join the townsfolk. Tatshka nods, grabbing her spear tightly, and lets loose a battlecry as she and the finley behind her lead charge forward into the fray.
Vortea quickly follows suit, letting out a loud whoop as she flaps her wings, taking to the air as she leads her finley into the writhing mass of bodies that made up any open space in the town.
Shots of magic blitzed through the air, decorating the screams and shouts of the fighting finley with the clangs and clanks of metal on metal drowning out a majority of the other quieter noises. The silky black glittering dust of Voided finley blew across the ground, getting smashed into a gritty, sharp paste with the blood soaking the cobblestones.
Unintentionally trampled bodies were piling up quickly from both sides, and the lack of space was slowly driving the fighters of Spirits Grove and the Void-Touched away from the overcrowded streets and buildings, and into the open plains surrounding them.
If that wasnt bad enough, Voidstructs of monsterous sizes started forming at the rear of the fighters, leaving the Spirits Grove army surrounded on both sides. Upon seeing this, any of the finley who could fly started shedding armor to allow flight, bringing out any ranged weapons they may have to start picking off larger targets from the air while also dodging magic missles flung at them.
Gunshots started ringing out once most of the fighters hit the plains, and Voidtouched started dropping where they stood and turning into fine glittering dust as bullets found their homewards mark in the opposing finleys head or chest. Those with non-lethal wounds stood staring at the sudden weapon change, guns being a very new tool of destruction to them.
However, that was short lived fearful awe because as soon as the Void afflicted individual dropped, a Spirits Grove finley was right there to finish them off fully. And for a bit, it seemed as if they were gaining the higher ground against Hollow’s forces, and hopes started rising as the sight was noticed by the fighters in the split second of free time between sword clashes and gunshots. Larger gaps were appearing in the fray, and more greyscale finley were falling and disintegrating in the breeze.
That hope didnt last long unfortunately.
As soon as the forces pushed outwards to the plains around town, and away from the buildings, a building roar resounded from the deeper woods, and fresh reinforcements for Hollow’s army poured out from between the trees. Hundreds…no, thousands of Void-Touched and other Void afflicted individuals filled the fallens places, and once again the Spirits Grove soldiers were overwhelmed.
Multitudes of Void wielding finley stormed through their weakened first wave fighters, blasting the Spirits Grove army into dust and shards of crystal at every opportunity. The Voided finley vanished in front of their fellow fighters, and the scene repeats itself like a film stuck on loop, fresh fighters replacing the fallen, but at a steadily declining rate.
Fighters, in the middle of raising their weapons to strike, or their shields to block strikes were taken down in an instant, empty armor and weapons falling to the ground in a clatter that was lost to the noise surrounding them all around, and many of the fallens weapons created a tripping hazard for both opposing sides….which in turn just lead to more casualties.
Voidstructs followed behind the attackers, feasting on screaming and wounded finley that werent killed off by Hollow’s forces, and even those on the same side as them. The heaping mounds of living Void Essence consumed the maimed and bloodied figures by pulling them inside their disgustingly frigid, pudding textured bodies with thousands of tiny hands that emerge from the main body, crawling over them like choking, subzero temperatured living tar, eliminating their screams as soon as they reached the necks.
Firey arrows zoomed through the air in retaliation, alighting the mounding Voidstructs like gasoline, the thick oily surface of the beings burning like hellish pyres as they too, loosed wails that sounded like a sickening chorus of shrill screams as they burned down into bubbling sludge puddles.
As the refreshed soldiers raged and fought above, families stored underneath in the towns central bunker that were considered safe previously, had to start fleeing out of the single emergency exit to the north. Due to the added weight and thundering footsteps above, the ceiling protecting them had started to collapse under the added weight of the many reinforcements from the enemy.
Earth Draken supporters were repairing it as fast as the cracks appeared, but despite their best efforts, chunks started falling, and the risk of failure was too great to ignore. Finley were silently ushered out into the long evacuation tunnel as the ceiling began to actively collapse behind them, hoping for the best and to avoid any potential attacks on the innocent as they evacuate onto the surface field, and into the forest. A handful of Void Afflicted finley on the outskirts of the battle were alerted to the presence of evacuees from the mass change in surrounding mana, and many of them cackle as they chase the now terrified and screaming townsfolk into the deep woods.
The majority of those fighting on the fray of the main battle stayed steady until around midway in the fight, where a large attack from a fleet of touched individuals under Hollows personal control cornered a massive amount of them that included many members hailing from Brydon City in a maneuver that caught the soldiers completely off guard. Those captured platoons were consequently destroyed by both magic and weapon, leaving none to be spared.
The rest of the ragtag fighters from the city that were left scattered amongst the other platoons, had to flee while they could to avoid being erased or killed. Many never managed to make it back to their home, being killed in the forests surrounding Spirits Grove, or simply dying of wounds inflicted upon them during their flee.
With many of the fighters from the other cities and settlements killed or fleeing, and their current numbers dwindling, it came down to many of the emigrated members of Spirits Grove, and hardy leporids from Aurem being the main fighters left, with some ragtag stragglers from Channelium and Brydon City that survived and decided to stay behind adding to the vastly depleted numbers of the resistances army.
On the other side of the fields, in the middle of the war ravaged town, Vortea and the rest of her platoon were in middle of fighting off a large platoon of particularly powerful Void-Touched that had targeted their party with a nasty fevor. Suddenly, in the middle of an overhead strike, Vortea clenches her chest and gasps.