SS [46] Not Real People

The forest path had grown silent as Tanisha observed the druid in front of her. The bow he had been using to fight off the monsters unraveled into pure energy. Then absorbed into a paper talisman he quickly tucked away. Soren then reached out his hand for a shake. Tanisha in turn had balled hers into fists ready to strike the man. He must have noticed the hostility because he stopped in his tracks hands up. 

The druid was broad, well built and definitely a seasoned warrior. He was in light armor but it was reinforced with the odd material energy that flowed around him almost like smoke from a dying fire. Tanisha had met people that used prana, ki and chakra but the energy that she felt from him wasn’t any of those.

Identify

Name: Soren Ahlgren

Species: Druid

Level: 90

Vocation: Lifeshaper Marksman

The name of his vocation put into perspective why Tanisha couldn’t recognize the energy she felt from the man. Lifeshapers were practitioners of the lifeforce material art. It was the oldest of the material paths and one steeped the most in human tradition. Which made Tanisha pause in her anger if only for a moment. She couldn’t wrap her head around why even a lowly druid would abandon mana for lifeforce.

“Just wanted to thank you, warrior,” Soren said hesitantly as he took a step back. “I get it, we will just get going then.”

Tanisha’s grip tightened on her staff; she could feel the side of her that was merciless, the part of her that was Valkyrja. That darker side of her wanted to kill him. Druids weren’t people. They were monsters in perverse wendigo form. 

Her mind drifted all the way back to the first druid she had ever met. It was shortly after the Salstars had left her for dead. When she and Bjorn had truly begun their adventure.

It started with the steel wolf familiar who had managed to take over a pack of shadow wolves. It chased them down and Bjorn only barely managed to kill it. Then came the druid, or what was left of him as the rot beneath the facade of the Forest Father’s visage began to show. He had become a treant, the lesser druid, and slaughtered an entire village before she finally put him down. 

That monster, that thing, that beast, would hang the dead from branches. That was what Tanisha knew druids truly were. Monsters pretending to be decent. Beast that spoke to deceive and lie. Creature more than people. None of them deserved to live.

Flashes of rose gold lightning arched around her hands as her magic reacted to her rage.

“Tanisha!” Bjorn’s voice yelled out. 

The familiar rushed to her side in a blur of motion Aurelius was beside him. She felt the mask of Valkyrja slip before she lost herself fully. 

“Tani, what happened? Bjorn said you were in danger,” Aurelius said.

“Aurelius?” Soren questioned.

“W-what, Soren?” Aurelius blinked, recognition following immediately. “What are you doing out here?”

That was enough to break Tanisha’s focus. Her gaze finally tore away from the druid, though the tension in her body did not fade.

“Why is a beast like him here?” Tanisha demanded. “How do you know him?”

“Beast?” Soren echoed, offense flashing briefly before he forced it down again.

Aurelius frowned slightly. “I do not know why he is here, but he is from the Force Isles. He works as a guide through the Chaos Lands, same as my family. Uses the same broker when he is in town.” He glanced between them. “What happened here? Did he attack you?”

Soren raised his hands a little higher as Bjorn loomed closer, clearly aware of just how quickly this could go wrong.

“Attack her? No,” Soren said quickly. “Absolutely not. She just saved me a great deal of trouble dealing with those monsters.”

“Is everything alright out here?”

The new voice cut cleanly through the tension. The carriage door swung open before anyone could answer.

“Milady, we should wait until Master Soren has secured the area before stepping out,” a man urged from within.

“You hear him talking, don’t you?” the woman replied as she descended anyway. “If those creatures were still a threat, he wouldn’t be chatting.”

She stepped down with practiced grace, boots touching the dirt as if the road itself had been prepared for her.

Her garments layered over one another in deep reds, cobalt blues, and furnace-gold accents, each thread catching the light with quiet intention. A veil of interlocking metal strands obscured her face, shifting softly as she moved. Power clung to her, not her own, but the hum of dozens of interwoven runes hidden beneath fabric and metal.

Behind her, a man followed more carefully. Clean-shaven, robed, and composed in a way that felt out of place among the dwarves Tanisha had met so far. 

Tanisha barely spared them a glance at first. Her attention was still locked on Soren.

Identify

Name: Bromm Vaultkeep

Species: Dwarf

Level: 3

Vocation: None

Identify

Name: Yrsa Runecrown

Species: Dwarf

Level: 2

Vocation: None

“Milady, please return to the carriage,” the man, Bromm insisted.

“Are we being robbed?” the woman, Yrsa, asked plainly, eyes flicking over the group. “Why are your hands up, Soren? Do these travelers not know who I am?”

“Milady Runecrown,” Soren said carefully, “I believe you should listen to your adviser. I am not certain what is happening here. I will call for you when it is—”

“Nonsense.” Yrsa stepped forward, completely unconcerned with the hydra looming nearby. “Do you think a band of brigands would stand in the way of a Runecrown?” Her gaze shifted, sharp and assessing, settling on Tanisha. “The demoness warrior helped kill the monsters, yes? Then you are not here to attack us. So either let us pass… or tell me what you want.”

“Runecrown?” Aurelius echoed the name. “As in the royal family?”

The woman tilted her head slightly. “So you do recognize the name. I am Princess Yrsa Runecrown.”

“Milady, please,” Bromm murmured again, visibly strained.

“Tanisha,” Aurelius said under his breath, stepping closer to her, “we should leave. I don’t know why a royal is out here with so little protection, but that alone makes this dangerous. Let’s not get involved. I don’t know what Soren did to get you this upset but we need to go.”

Tanisha exhaled slowly. The tension in her hands bled away as she released her staff. It hovered beside her, the glow dimmed as the last traces of rose-gold lightning faded from her fingers. She turned away from Soren deliberately, putting her focus on Bjorn instead, one hand settling against the familiar honey gold scales of his nearest head.

Distance. She needed distance.

“Lady Runecrown,” Aurelius said, stepping forward and bowing his head, “my name is Aurelius Lyns. I apologize for any misunderstanding. We are simply travelers passing through your kingdom. As you observed, my companion assisted in dealing with the monsters. She is… not always quick to settle after a fight.”

“Berserker madness?” Yrsa said, almost thoughtfully. “Rare in demons.”

“My companion, Tanisha Scalebound here is not a demoness,” Aurelius corrected smoothly. “We will take our leave now. We have no intention of delaying your journey further.”

Yrsa stepped closer to him, close enough to study him properly. Her gaze lingered, sharp and curious, before flicking briefly toward Bjorn and then, just as briefly, back to Tanisha.

“As a member of the Runecrown,” Yrsa said, “I cannot allow such a deed as aiding in my protection to go unrewarded. If not for the attack, we would already be nearing Highhall. If that is your destination, then I would see my savior shown proper dwarven hospitality.”

Aurelius hesitated and glanced back at Tanisha. This wasn’t an invitation they should refuse. Tanisha wasn’t sure how much power a princess would hold in the dwarven kingdom but in Yuhia First Princess Sigrun held significant power. Making enemies of royalty was always a bad idea.

Tanisha stood with her hand still resting against Bjorn. Her posture relaxed but her eyes betrayed her real emotions. They flicked, just once, toward Soren. She needed to take another breath to center herself. Then she nodded.

“We would love to take you up on that offer.” Aurelius continued as he did a curt bow to the princess. “We left our wagon on the main road so we will go to retrieve it and meet you at the fork.”

***

They were once again in their own wagon but this time they were following the rather practical looking royal carriage of Princess Yrsa. Tanisha sat beside Aurelius as he held the reins. She rested her head in her hands waiting for the inevitable questions from Aurelius that just didn’t come. They just sat in silence for a long time.  Tanisha was starting to feel anxious like she had done something wrong but she hadn’t. She saved someone and while she was sure killing the druid was the morally the right thing to do she hadn’t acted on it.

“Okay, so you’re not going to ask me anything?” Tanisha questioned.

“Huh, what about?” Aurelius asked.

“My hostility towards that creature in the other carriage.” Tanisha said deadpan.

“Uh, I mean you were intense but you didn’t do anything. Did he say something to you to get you that mad, you are even calling him a creature.” Aurelius said.

“Him being around is the problem.”

“Oh. So. Is it because he is a druid?”

“Druids are evil,” Tanisha said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t know about all druids but Soren’s usually an alright guy.” Aurelius said carefully. “He hadn’t done anything to me or my family and he has a good reputation as a guide. We are actually about the same age.”

“You haven’t seen their true face. They aren’t people.” Tanisha spat.

Aurelius cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I… look, I am not sure what the druids have done to you but once this is over we never have to see him again.”

“You think he is alright?” Tanisha asked.

“I don’t have a reason to not. I haven’t interacted with him much. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they aren’t people. I know that when we met at that entry checkpoint in Yuhia there had been a druid attack on the border and you were in that attack. You know Soren didn’t have anything to do with that, right?”

Tanisha scoffed at that and silence took over the right again. This time it was far more uncomfortable. 

“Are you going to be okay?” Aurelius asked. “If this is too much royalty or no, we skip Highhall. You are my partner and we are in this together, us, Bjorn and Ana.”

Tanisha glanced at him, the tension from earlier still lingering at the edges of her expression. It softened just a little.

“It’ll make things harder if we don’t go,” she said. “And I want you to get back home. You deserve that.” Her voice dipped, quieter now. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I actually have berserker madness or anything. What even is that?”

“It’s an orc thing. Something to do with magic and aggression heightening battle senses,” Aurelius said, taking a more informative tone. “If you still had your bardiches you would make for a good berserker.”

“So you are saying I am like an orc?” Tanisha questioned.

“About as tall as one maybe.” Aurelius chuckled. “They are more… hit it until it stops moving. Your style has changed to zap from a distance then hit it till it stops moving.”

Tanisha smirked. “It’s an effective strategy.”

“Oh yeah, absolutely, but it would make you a poor orc. Good cernunnos though.” Aurelius said.

“We need to find more of those rifts if they are out there. Ana could get our stuff back.” Tanisha said.

“I was thinking that too.”

Tanisha turned on the bench and lifted the curtain behind them. Light spilled into the wagon’s interior.

Bjorn was curled in the center, massive body coiled in on itself, with Anasuya tucked comfortably along his side. One of his heads blinked open, then another. His middle head yawned wide as the light reached him.

“I am bored,” Bjorn said.

“Have you figured out how to control the King of Reptiles?” Tanisha questioned.

“No,” Bjorn sighed. 

“We can’t let you out yet, Big Man.” Tanisha said apologetically.

“You think a cold iron collar would suppress it,” Tanisha asked.

“Maybe, it is a magical ability.” Aurelius said.

“It would have to be able to suppress my alloy, not just mana,” Bjorn offered. 

“Primana doesn’t have a known suppression formula,” Tanisha rubbed her chin. “You and Aurelius might be immune to magic suppression now. Well my former mother could find a way.”

“Is she an anti-magic mage or something?” Aurelius asked.

“Ingrid Salstar, she is actually the foremost powerful anti-magic mage in Yuhia. Possibly the continent.” Tanisha said.

“Didn’t you almost kill her or something?” Aurelius questioned.

“What? No.” Tanisha frowned, genuinely confused. “Last time I saw her I had the option. She was in the middle of a mental breakdown and wouldn’t defend herself.” She paused, the thought catching up to her. “You know, now that I understand how powerful a mage body is… I doubt I could have actually killed her even if she wasn’t going to fight back. I wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as I am now. Even if I hit her full force with my bardiche I doubt it would do much more than scratch her.”

“Yeah. The further I go in realm, the more I realize how much further I really have to go.” Aurelius said. 

“Which means,” Tanisha said, glancing back toward the wagon interior, “you’re still stuck for now, Big Man.”

Bjorn closed his eyes again, settling back into place. “I figured.”