No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out what was weighing on my mind. So I treated it like the thing I was supposed to do but couldn't for the life of me remember, only to realize that half an hour ago I should have been on the other side of the city, not checking my phone sitting in the bathroom. Or like the lost keys I always found when I wasn't looking for them. I just let it go, figuring I'd eventually remember.

That said, I'd love to erase from my memory what I just saw. But, unfortunately, my brain didn't work as a hard drive. There was no DELETE button. So with that dying cry of man and woman still echoing in my mind, I tore my eyes away from the distant moss piles full of blooming flowers and glanced around the clearing. 

It may have fallen silent for the time being, as no one dared to speak or move, myself included, but no doubt that couldn't last forever. 

At first glance, it would seem Esu was about to let the intruders in his woods die of old age as he took his time with every growl, with each rumble, not attacking them. I dare say his actions spoke otherwise. He just let two people become fertilizer for a man-eating moss without batting an eye, so to speak. An action that may have deterred Shadowbreakers and mercenaries from similar efforts could also have driven some to even more desperate attempts.

I was not a people person, more of a flower girl, but even I could recognize among them those reconciled to death. They were smiling and relaxed. Then there were those with calm tempers and logical minds, calculating their options. And then "We are fucked!" group, whose eyes darted from side to side, from Esu to their feet and a moss beneath them, while they clutched their weapons so tightly I could hear the leather on their grips, hilts, and handles squeak.

And then there was me, not quite sure which group to put myself in. I was ... I was many things. While the collar was around my neck, I felt cornered and ready to die. Now, now I wanted to live. The presence of beasts several times my level made me scared shitless, but at the same time, I was thrilled by what I learned here. The sight of humans and terrans in front of me stirred rage in me, but the fact that I was standing there basically naked was highly embarrassing to me.

Then there was Aspen, lying in a clearing somewhere, in a pool of her own blood, at best just dying. That's what I hoped, desperate to help her, but I couldn't. 

No ... I didn't dare help her. After seeing a moss eat two people, I didn't dare move even an inch. Esu might consider me his spawn, but parents often spank disobedient children, don't they?

I didn't want to get spanked with that moss.

So right now, the clearing was almost a place of tranquillity. Though, beneath that serene facade was a boiling cauldron of emotions waiting to explode and turn this clearing into a bloodbath at any moment.

Everybody was aware of that, just like me. That's what made the tension in the clearing so palpable I could have sworn I could even smell it. Every second felt like a minute and a bead of sweat trickling slowly down my spine to my tail, like torture.

Who dares to move first? Who will be so stupid?

Then my ears twitched, registering the movement.

"Sir, Esu. Sir, I..." said Tate, cut off when he tripped over a smoldering root. 

I facepalm myself, or should I say facetail myself, since it was Sage who did the slapping. Speechless, I asked myself how I could have forgotten him. I should have thought he'd be the one to do something stupid, as he was about as predictable as the weather. 

Workhand stood up quickly, blackened by the soot and ash that covered the ground. "Sir," he addressed Esu while trying to walk closer to the king without stumbling again. "I don't mean to be rude, but that bear attacked me. Sir."

Whether it was his stupidity or his courage, one couldn't help but admire it in disbelief. So it was no wonder I found myself reacting like most in the clearing, staring open-mouthed at the young man.

I held my breath as the treetops, for which I had the antlers on Esu's head, rustled. This ancient, massive beast has moved, leaning closer to the young man. Then, unexpectedly, he sniffed at him, closing his emerald eyes while doing so. When he opened them again, a brief roar left his throat. "Death!"

Tate, taken aback by the roar, took a step back. Not his claim, though. "It... it's true, sir."

The poor guy had no idea what the roar meant. Otherwise, he wouldn't be standing there, he'd be running for his life. Without realizing it at first, I found myself not wishing the young man dead, even though he was one of the slavers.

I even considered speaking to Esu on his behalf.

"I smell death on you," the King of the Woods spoke before I made up my mind. "You have been challenged."

Tate was challenged? When? By whom? Maybe Esu meant mentally challenged? I would believe that, but...

"Your rival lies dead. Her body now belongs to the forest." Esu grumbled, nodding his head to the dead mossbear Tate killed. "You fought, you won. Free to go."

His words took my breath away. Tate was free to go? Just like that? What the bloody hell was going on?

The glance at the clueless workhand made me snort, wishing I was half as lucky as he was. My unintentional nasal sound caught his attention, though. "Miss, Grey?"

"This idiot," I thought to myself, sighing aloud. Maybe it was part of his luck too, but I decided to help him. The question was how? How to retell Esu's words to him. Right now, nothing escaped my throat other than growls that he would understand as well as the king's. Suppose [Eleaden Standard Language] allowed me to write, I could have scratched Esu's words into the ground with my claw, but the only language I was able to write in was English. Language on Eleaden as useful as a glass hammer.

So after I gave it some thought, I closed my eyes for a second, trying to recall my pantomime movements. I used to be decent at it. Then I used hand gestures, facial expressions, tail and wing movements, even sounds to translate Esu's growls.

Though, my confidence quickly ran up against Tate's lack of understanding. "Miss Grey, you're telling me to dig a hole? A...and then I'm supposed to jump in?"

"Eh?" I paused, taken aback by his answer and wondering to myself where I had gone wrong, whether my skills had become so rusty.

"Traiana's tits, boy," a bull-like voice reached my ears. "Are you blind? You're free to go, you lucky bastard."

Like me, Tate looked for the voice, finding a man kneeling on the ground behind Shadowbreakers. He was too far away for me to see his class, nor could I see what he was bending over. But I was happy that at least someone understood my gestures.

"Is that true, miss? I thought you ..." Tate asked, but I stopped him before he started talking nonsense again. Too late not to draw everyone's attention to me, though. I probably don't need to say I didn't like it. A little nervous about it, I pointed to the deep-voiced man, nodded, gave a thumbs-up, unsure if such a gesture existed on Eleaden, and hoped that would be enough.

"Shit! Really?" "That can't be true," "Him?" "We killed one of those beasts too, maybe..." muttered and whispered Shadowbreakers and mercenaries as I confirmed that man's words.

"See, boy," shouted the man loud enough to be heard over the murmur. "Thank Esu, and get out of here."

"Yes, sir," Tate nodded quickly, turned to the King of the Woods and bowed his head. "Thank you, sir Esu."

Even though I had a feeling Tate didn't know what he was thanking for, Esu nodded, acknowledging his half-baked gratitude. I assumed Tate would turn on his heel and disappear from Esulmor Woods as fast as he could. Against all my expectations, he looked at me. "Are you sure you don't need me to dig that hole?"

"You," I growled, frustrated with his obsessive hole-digging. 

"On second thought, come here, boy," the kneeling man said, saving Tate from a beating I had planned for him. 

I was determined to put those two out of my mind and just worry about Aspen and myself again when my ears twitched as the man spoke anew.

"Take care of that woman," he said, pointing to the ground, stood up, tapped Tate on the shoulder, and headed towards me.

I ignored this man's peculiar behavior as my mind raced, trying to remember where Aspen had fallen. Though finding a landmark was extremely difficult, I would say impossible. All the trees in the area had the same charred look. There was no stream running through the clearing, nor were there any large boulders. All I could navigate by were the dead or stunned bodies of the mossbears and the wreckage of wagon and cages.

Was it really Aspen who was lying there? It might as well have been one of the Shadows. Still, a spark of hope flared inside me.

I glanced at the approaching middle-aged man. He wasn't as tall as Ward, nor as buff as the bruiser. A thick beard adorned his face, longer, shaggy, slightly wavy hair covered his head, and under his thick eyebrows were hiding blue eyes. His gear was a mix of everything, just like the mercenaries, but it lacked their insignia. Nor did I see any weapons on him.

"Isn't that...Deckard. What's he doing here?" One of the Shadows paused as the man approached.

"One of yours?" a female mercenary asked, only to add. "Impressive."

This time a familiar voice answered the woman, it was Isaac. "Does he look like one of us?"

"Then who the fuck is he?" she asked sharply.

"Solo deeker from Castiana," Isaac told her thoughtfully. "I'm more curious about how he got here? And especially why the fuck is he here and not in the labyrinth."

"Does it matter? With someone of his level, we could get out," the female mercenary suggested. "It always comes down to price."

"Not with Deckard," Isaac replied, surprising me with his confidence in the man's character.

"Even city guards can be bribed. You should know better," she argued, considering how to approach the man.

"Be my guest, but Deckard used to be known as..." Isaac didn't finish the sentence as the deep-voiced man turned, and along with his gaze, the pressure fell on Isaac. Warning not to say more.

Even though I wasn't the center of his anger, I felt oppressed by his presence and hesitated with my question regarding Aspen.

"That smell," grumbled Esu in disbelief when the man stopped a few steps away from me, and a bloody carcass of an animal unknown to me appeared at his feet. 

The sight of it was revolting. The idea of eating the meat raw was disgusting, but the smell of it was intoxicating. Whatever it was, it teased my senses so much that it made me drool.

The man bowed his head, pointing to the dead animal. "A gift."

Esu sucked in the carcass's smell and reminisced. "Tender flesh, crunchy bones. Home."

I flinched when moss shoots sprouted from his back, wrapped around the carcass, and delivered this gift into its maw in an instant. An animal, beast, or monster, half the size of mossbears, was but a small morsel to a massive beast like Esu. Yet, he even ended up licking his maw. 

I found myself growling weakly at this provocation.

"Speak, gift bearer," Esu grunted, satisfied and much to my relief, ignoring my daring. 

The king's answer made me wonder even more what this gift bearer, Deckard as it seemed, was doing here. What was his aim? Most of all, I was wondering what that animal that made me drool so much was? Oh, and why the same beast as a gift did not have Ward more so that thought fuddler.

However, when the man looked at me with a raised eyebrow, I grinned. It almost looked like he was saying. "A little help, please."

Well, first, I wiped my saliva and looked.

[Fighter: lvl ???]

"Bloody hell." I almost made the mistake of staring back at the strongest human I've ever met. That grin was more than brave enough. So I swallowed my snarky remarks and glanced into his eyes, ready to translate Esu's words through pantomime.

"Come on, girl. What did he say?" his voice echoed in my head, startling me so much that I immediately raised my mental defenses. He nodded as if satisfied with my reaction, then raised his hand and pointed to the ring on it. At first, I didn't realize it, as I braced myself for the mind mage's attack, but the same ring was on my hand. It was a union ring.

"I borrowed it," he said simply.

But my mind immediately raced. Was it really Aspen back there? Was she alive? How do you use this bloody thing?! I swore, looking at the ring I got from the guardswoman. Free of the magical shackles, I pumped mana into the ring and formulated a question in my mind. "Is Aspen alive?"

"The guardswoman,?" he asked, and when I nodded eagerly, he added. "For now."

It wasn't a straightforward answer, it didn't tell me how she was doing, but it was still enough. I knew more than I did a moment ago, and it took some of the weight off my heart. Plus, Tate was there with her now. I could only hope he knew what he was doing. 

"What did Esu say?!" Deckard asked me again, this time with more force.

I refocused and quickly translated Esu's words while adding a word of thanks, just to grin again, this time to myself, when the thought crossed my mind. A little while ago I was a slave, now I've been made secretary and translator for a king, quite a promotion, isn't it?

"Unfortunately, I'm here for her." He tossed his head towards me, sighing at my odd behavior that hadn't escaped his awareness.

"Why?" growled Esu, taking the question from my lips. "To kill?"

I quickly translated everything, adding my own questions. I wasn't going to end up in the hands of another man eager to find out how my body worked, what made it tick. He completely ignored my questions, yet his answer to Esu took my breath away.

"To train her," he said.

For a moment, I thought I must have heard wrong. That it was another mistranslation of bestial language, only to realize that he wasn't an ancient beast, but a Standard-speaking human. So my question was, what the bloody hell was he talking about, yet before I could ask, Esu grunted in agreement. "Weak. Practice she needs." 

Wait, what? Yeah, I needed training, but was he selling me out? Translating, I threw in my questions again, more urgently this time.

But Deckard frowned at me. "Not the time, girl."

But I insisted on answering. I mean, I glared at him insistently and dared to growl. "San, Rezso, is that enough?"

Was it? Just two words? Rezso was my trainer back in Castiana, but what was that supposed to tell me? San...hmm? Did he mean Sanysia Rayden, Captain Rayden? Did she send him? Why him, why didn't she come herself and with an army?

"She is indeed weak but has potential," Deckard said. His assessment shifted my attention back to him and Esu. I wanted to growl in disapproval, but I had to admit he was right, I was weak compared to the two of them. Actually, everyone in the clearing, including the beasts, was much stronger than me.

Oh, except Tate, of course. He had insane luck, though.

Me? I had potential? It was good to have potential, right?

"Like any cub," agreed Esu. I waited a bit to see if he would say anything else, then translated his words, cursing that Deckard ignored my questions yet again and wondering if the man was an Imperial Agent. But why would the Captain send him, and how did he know Razso?

Hmm...training? No, it can't be him. I stole a glance at Deckard, pondering if this was the man Razso was talking about, the one looking for someone to teach his combat style. The man I'm supposed to meet tomorrow. Why would he suddenly show up here, though? It made no sense. Only a fool would come here to face Esu, for someone he didn't even know.

"I'll teach now," Esu said with a deep growl. 

Huh? Teach who? Confused, I translated what he said, to which Deckard just nodded in acceptance and understanding.

The following rumbling drew the attention of everyone in the clearing. The meaning wasn't anything specific, but if I had to describe it, I would as a simple "Hey!". King of the Woods looked around slowly before growling again at everyone. "You dared to challenge."

No one told me to do it, but I took my new job seriously, and I translated his words to Deckard while I tried to pantomime them for everyone. Whether Shadowbreakers and mercenaries understood was not my problem.

"Now you will be," Esu added after taking two slow breaths.

Yeah, Deckard could have simply retold my words to humans and terrans, but he didn't and instead watched with a smile as I tried to do it myself.

"What?" I asked him, a little annoyed when he looked at me with a strange smile on his face even after I finished my performance.

"I like your moves, girl," he replied, shrugging. "Not as graceful as a dancer, but well coordinated."

"..." I had no idea how to respond.

Then Deckard looked around, "Where's Ward? What about the buyer?"

I pointed to the black shells lying in the grass some distance away. "They both used that. It had a white crystal in the middle."

"Ah, Return Crystals, costly but clever," he said in understanding, assessing the shells without moving from his position. "One for Falens Cry, I'm guessing Ward. The other for Vanquished's Pride?"

A different labyrinth was my guess. I couldn't see much difference in the shells from my position, but there must have been if he could tell.

"Buyer used the one you said?" he asked, and I nodded. “She is a thought fuddler.”

Now Deckard looked completely confused. "A what?"

"Mind mage," I corrected myself.

He snorted. "Ah, another mind mage. You're in some deep shit, girl."

"You don't have to tell me that," I argued, nodding to Esu.

"Not bored, are you," he remarked, and even through the connection, I could hear his amusement. I didn't share it, though. But I kept my own remarks to myself as our brief conversation came to an end when Esu grumbled again, looking at me. "Call the mature ones, call the mothers, cub."

I froze, pointing at myself. "Me?"

"You, cub." He grunted. "Need to learn."

"How?" I dared to ask.

"Just call. They'll come," he assured me with a deep rumble.

But I wasn't sure at all and feared failure. After all, I have called like this before, and they did not come. What has changed since then? What was I even supposed to say? Moms, Dad's asking for you? 

Jokes aside, my dad was far away and my mom even further. These mossbears couldn't replace them.

However, the thought of my mother and how she fought her enemy to the bitter end gave me courage. I still wasn't sure of the words to use in my cry, but when I thought about it, the words weren't as much important to the mossbears as the meaning behind them.

Esu saw my acquired confidence and beckoned. "Call."

So I did.

"Great mothers, mature ones, come," I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing through the woods much farther than I expected. A simple message, yet its meaning was quite clear. The question was whether they would heed my call.

That's why I briefly pondered mentioning Esu, but it wasn't the King of the Woods who called them. It was me.

"What the fuck did she do?" one Shadow asked. A question I'd like to know the answer to myself because there was no response from the woods. Afraid to look at Esu, I glanced at Deckard, as if he should know the answer to this failure. To my disappointment, he just shrugged, saying. "Don't look at me. You're half beast."

I clenched my fists but didn't make a sound. Being called a half-beast wasn't exactly flattering, but he was right. Who should know better what happened, what I did wrong than the beasts or me.

Gathering the courage to ask Esu if I had done something wrong, I took a breath just as the first mother mossbear came out of the woods. Then the second and the third. And then came roars from all corners of the Esulmor Woods. Their meaning was nothing specific, basically just an acknowledgment of my call that gave me goosebumps.

"No, no, what the fuck," was one of the more decent curses coming from the ranks of Shadowbreaker and the mercenaries.

"Bloody hell, how?" I added a curse of my own, though it sounded more like something between a squeal and a growl. It hasn't been that long since I had called more desperately, insisted more, and they all had ignored me. Now it seemed like the whole woods under Granora mountain range heard me. So, how was it possible? What have I done differently?

"Look down," said Deckard, seeing my confusion and pointing to the ground. I looked, froze, almost yelped, and was glad I didn't jump aside when I saw my feet submerged in the moss. Perhaps for the first time, my bestial instincts worked in my favor, seeing moss not as a danger but as something beneficial. That was against what reason told me because I already saw myself as a pile of fertilizer soon to be.

Of course, I wasn't stupid, and even though I didn't quite understand how he did it, I figured Esu helped me.