Location: Daivette forest / Some time ago.

 

A group of reunited people, and a castaway tag-along, were having a heated argument amongst themselves inside the depths of the treacherous forest.

 

“Just what?!– who?!– when did you?!–” the leading man of the search party said, taking off his cowl, revealing an Elf with short cropped hair.

He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. “Where were you Gaviel? What has happened? Have you found the witch?”  He fired question after question one after the other with growing worry and increasingly agitated arm gestures. “Who is this…” He looked at her up and down “child?”

 

The second, more level-headed one, put a hand on his shoulder, “Alfen.” the man said in an admonishing tone, prompting him to pause.

“I understand that we are all still on alert and pressed for answers… but please calm down.” he gave a reassuring pat on his shoulder, gesturing to Gaviel “let us hear him speak for himself.”

 

Pausing, Alfen closed his eyes and huffed,  “*sigh*... it is good to see you in good health.” he said in a calmer tone.

 

”Our people were expecting your return, but…” He continued “one… two… three days, people began to become worried as time passed, and it only got worse when only you, out of everyone else, had yet to appear…”

He massaged his furrowed brows with slumped shoulders. “...And you know very well how the chief can become. In a situation like this.” At this, the third Elf and Gaviel pursed their lips, grimacing.

 

He glanced behind Gaviel, pointedly staring at the unknown girl that accompanied him. She shied behind Gaviel’s legs in fright under his glare.

Leveling his gaze back at him he asked “...Explain.”

 

For a moment, Gaviel wished he didn’t stumble upon his fellow kin at all. Explaining everything and having to take care of the kid afterwards would be trouble he’d rather not do, he’d rather hand over the problem to someone else.

Averting their eyes, he began to tell his tale.

 

About the usual route he took, searching for signs of the daring perpetrator…

His meeting with an unusual girl covered in blood, both hers and the enemy…

The days and nights spent trudging through the forest…

Until the eventual battle they had just met.

 

Scrutinizing the child, the trio could only condone his actions. “Normally we’d just guide any lost souls to the nearest human settlement… But all of us find ourselves in strange circumstances, everyone must be accounted for and we cannot afford to send someone on such a long expedition… An exception to the rules can be made.” The second, tallest of the trio said. The rest of them nodded in silent agreement, nobody wanted to spend weeks if not months carrying a child away. A child that may as well be the answer to their questions.

 

“Frier is right, but…” The third one spoke. “You told us about how you spent all these days walking up and down this jungle, but how in the fu–” *clap* Frier slapped the back of his head “Cain... language.”

 

“*Ahem*” Cain, the short one, disregarded the throbbing pain on his head and ignored the interruption.

 

“The humans call our home the Death Forest for a reason, why didn’t you encounter any of the numerous death traps and beasts that scour this land? Granted you are capable of operating with the capabilities of a whole team by yourself, but still…” he gave a head nudge towards the girl “What confuses me more is how the girl, that by your description doesn’t know jack sh– *ahem* –is very bad at everything aside from swinging that stick of hers around.”

 

“I concur,” said Alfen. “Assuming she entered the forest, she must’ve spent quite some time roaming around to be able to reach so far deep.”

 

“Ah.” Gaviel raised his eyebrows. “I believe I forgot some details.” He then went on to explain his findings of a desolate space marred with carcasses of swamp frogs with signs that someone had been living in the area. And the frighteningly healing speed the girl apparently had, mentioning her tendency to injure herself and mistakenly eat poisonous things she found on the road, and being seemingly fine and uninjured after a short time.

 

Frier scratched his chin, both in contemplation and in awe of the strange child “That… may complicate the village’s reception of her, whether that is for better or worse I don't know... She would fare nicely amongst the village's doctors though.” Frier said, turning towards Alfen, leaving up to his’ choice.  He himself would not entertain the idea of abandoning a defenseless child in the jungle, unfortunately, paranoia plagued his’ possible perceptions of the girl’s true nature.

 

“They… shouldn't be heartless enough to make us send her back wherever she came from… considering the circumstances though, we can only hope.” Alfen concluded. They were already stretched thin as is, and still scared from the confusion and chaos that the witch caused. An expedition to the nearest city, which is quite far from their location in the middle of the forest, just to send her back to where they only think she came from would not be worth the resources.

 

“Regardless of her origins, we have been entrusted to find you and bring you back safe and whole.” Alfen continued. “I believe that any… ‘burdens’ of yours are included.” Implying that they were already on Gaviel’s ‘side’ regarding the girl’s safety. As a loyal member of the village he would not compromise their safety by introducing such an unknown to their midst during these trying times, but as a sensible person and friend he could sympathize with Gaviel’s decision, however, the consequences would be his to bear.

 

“...Thank you for understanding.” Gaviel said with a hand over his heart.

 

The questionable and utterly nonsensical acts of the unknown individual that assaulted their home left many distraught. It all happened without any apparent sense of reason or goal, and how easily the intruder bypassed their centuries old wards and barriers thought to be nigh infallible was cause for mass hysteria amongst the people.

For such a long time they lived in relative peace and quiet, rarely anyone visited them, and they became settled and comfortable inside their sanctuary. The sudden realization that they were less safe than they thought came crashing hard and loud in their slow lifestyle, prompting a swift change of gears from a serene haven to a much too lively village, a flurry of activity as everyone began doing everything they could think of to ensure their livelihoods.

 

“So!...” sauntering towards the girl, Cain exclaimed, catching the other’s attention.  “we came rushing all~ the way over here, because you were babysitting this little spawn here?” He says, looming over her. “Say, are we going to have to babysit her too? What species is it even?”

 

“Cain.” Gaviel warned.

 

“Are those horns and that tail real? They look heavy. Do they grow back if we chop them off, Like a lizard?”

 

*WHACK*

 

Gaviel, more than displeased with the way Cain kept behaving, swiftly closed the distance to reward him with another hammer to the side of the head.

 

“OUCH!! H-HEY THAT ACTUALLY HURT!” Cain complained loudly, massaging where he was struck. I didn't swear this time, what was that for!?”

 

“I do not warn twice.”

 

“*sigh* If you do not understand why he hit you. It only makes you more deserving of that one. Cain.” Alfen said to the side, with Frier massaging his temples at the antics of their youngest teammate.

 

And so, they decided it was time to head back, with Cain and Gaviel still arguing.

 

——— –– –– -- - -

 

Their journey was mostly uneventful, that is, not accounting for the time spent avoiding monster’s territories and dangerous flora…

 

…And that one time the girl stabbed Cain with her horns because he tried to caress her tail.

 

…Or that time when everyone freaked out after she ate a deadly lethal fruit she found laying on the ground.

 

…Or when she fell off the tree they were walking on top of.

 

…And the girl’s tendency to get tangled in her own tail and bump her horns on low hanging branches.

 

‘Actually, In hindsight… it was quite eventful.’

 

More than once the child had been rescued from falling into hazardous holes and plants. Freed from simple traps and webs. And saved from the fangs of monsters.

 

‘Her proclivity for getting into trouble is… troublesome. It seems she doesn’t have any sense of self-preservation, and a habit of getting anything that seems edible into her mouth. Thankfully she has become more mellow now…’ Soon they would arrive home, and the packet of trouble that she was would hopefully be someone else’s.

‘Even with her strong vitality, worrying about potentially lethal substances and injuries she could incur in herself all the time took its toll on us.’ Gaviel thought while eagerly leading the group through the mist of misdirection, the first layer of enchantments that kept their village safe.

 

Now, as they finally approached the final threshold between the outside wilderness and the inside of their home, Gaviel felt relieved that he could get some well earned rest from the past few weeks, and at the same time, nervous from the possible repercussions his actions– and the child’s existence could bring.

 

‘No use regretting it now.’ Regardless of his discontent, his resolve held firm.

 

——— –– –– -- - -

 

*bang* Gaviel hit the tree next to him in frustration, the words to express his irritation slipped away amidst the anger, the rest of the group hung their heads in conflicted thought.

In their haste, they all had overlooked a small detail they all had taken for granted.

 

The third gate. The radial sunderer. The barrier that guarded the innermost perimeter of their village.

 

In their self-assurance that the child they found belonged, at least in part, to their own kin, and with their desire to return with haste. They hadn’t really stopped to take time and ponder in depth the many different implications of her existence and the subsequent consequences, they deferred the burden of task to the elders and the chief that would supposedly decide her fate when they returned.

 

That is… if she managed to make it past the last threshold.

 

The shimmering barrier that they stood in front of, has the abilities to distinguish friend or foe, kin from stranger, according to the village’s collective existence and custom adjustments made directly to the spell’s foundations. An ancient legacy from their ancestors.

As their last line of protection, should anyone reach it, it would mean that they were able to breach or bridge the mist and the wall, so its nature was naturally of absolute lethality with close to no tolerance to any foe who dared testing its powers. Should an enemy with ill intention, or an unknown being that the enchantment could not recognize attempt to cross it, they would be… as the name implied, sundered, violently.

The magic would do its best to completely eviscerate and disembody its targets with everything at its disposal, a special mix of wind, spacial, druidic and water manipulation applied with unrestrained force is the answer. Creating a scintillating maelstrom of flowing strands that turned solid into fine dust.

It is a fearsome thing that provided an added sense of security to the village’s dwellers, and a deterrence to any prospective invader. However, in this situation it became a daunting obstacle.

If they were right in their assumptions of the child’s iniquitous origins, she should be able to cross unharmed. But this was not something they could choose to leave to an uncertain assumption, and nothing was able to be done to assure that she would not become a prospective target to the barrier’s effects.

 

And so, they stood there, a step away from the comfort of their houses, addled with uncertainty and afflicted by the fatigue of their unwittingly long journey.

 

“...Let’s go” Eventually, Alfen, having had enough of the tense atmosphere, gave a look of understanding shared between the party, and entered the gate, as he was not amicable to witness the worst of consequences of Gaviel’s decision.

Gaviel reluctantly sent a silent acknowledgement to Frier and Cain, he would not force them to stay away from their own home right at its doorstep. He wondered if this was the right choice, treating one’s life so capriciously, and if there was a better way.

 

He couldn’t think of any.

 

He couldn’t leave her here, either. While safer compared to the open forest, their borders were just as dangerous in multiple different ways. The child’s safety would be at jeopardy.

 

Indecision, uncertainty…

 

Pressure.

 

Doubt, hesitation…

 

Burden.

 

Against his better judgment, and under the sway of emotion, he took the first step.

If he was walking towards soul-crushing regret, or encompassing relief, he did not know. He faltered under the inquisitive gaze the girl gave him.

 

With the child in tow, he pushed through.

 

For a moment, his stomach dropped and his heart froze as he saw her struggle to go across for a moment. However, she took another step without as much as a scratch just after, only showing signs of a bit of strain and surprise.

 

Gaviel fell to his knees after the dreadful experience. Albeit filled with relief, he could only feel anguish knowing more ordeals were still waiting for him.

 

——— –– –– -- - -