It had only been a few nights in the damp, dense jungle since Nevera had left the only home she had ever known; it was the one place in the world where people understood her special kind of magic and she couldn’t help but contemplate going back. As she sat on the moist ground thinking of the night that made her want to leave so badly; the night that she watched her mother die, she could do nothing to stop the tears. Nevera was only twelve when her father killed her mother, stabbing her in the heart with his sacred bone dagger after the herbs made her fall into a deep slumber. Her father’s words constantly repeated in her mind, it is only a part of the Great Cycle of Being, everyone must die some time. Remember this always. As these words swarmed her mind and enveloped her thoughts, Nevera fell asleep where she sat. Her dreams, were only remembering that horrible night when she learned of what her father really was. When Nevera startled awake as she typically did, she said something, probably more to convince herself it was right then to actually say it.
“I cannot go back. It is supposed to be above those who serve Rathma to be tempted to do evil things. His secret will no longer be mine to carry and out here is the only place I do not feel like I need to talk about it. This is the new life I have chosen!” she said staring down at a crumpled half leaf sticking out of the muddy ground. Nevera rose to her feet and attempted to dust herself off, which didn’t help much but made her feel a bit better. She then tied back her bright white hair, checked her bone dagger was secure in its sheath and chose a direction to walk, as long as it wasn’t east back to the vast city under the jungle she did not much care which direction it was. She lifted the hood of her dark brown cloak so it would veil her face in darkness and strode into the wilderness not caring to keep her leather boot covered footfalls silent.
After four days of traversing the jungle Nevera came to a clearing that was obviously manmade. She noticed immediately a tent had been raised in the middle, a fire still smoldering nearby. Her instincts told her something was wrong with this place and her curiosity forced her to get a closer look and find out why. When the young Priestess of Rathma got within twenty feet of the camp her nostrils flared as she recognized the scent of death. Guided purely by her curiosity she scanned to camp for the cause of the smell. When Nevera could not find what was causing it, she decided to skirt the camp hiding as well as she could in the trees and bushes of the jungle. There was a roaring sound not too far in the distance and Nevera realized that the death she could not only smell, but sense, was coming from a battle of sorts. Trying to be quiet she snuck toward the sound of the fighting.
When Nevera got close enough to see what had caused the roaring sound what she saw astonished her. Standing in the midst of roughly a score of very small humanoid creatures wielding blowguns, spears and large knives was a monster of a man. He wore an assortment of leather armor, including a thick leather chest piece, boots and gauntlets. The enormous man wore nothing to protect his legs, only a loincloth could be seen but it appeared not to matter. He had blue painting across his large head and down his muscular right arm. The monster wielded two very large bastard swords, one in each hand and had no obvious issues controlling them. With another sudden shout, he seemed to gain strength and sent himself spinning about the creatures around him, thick arms holding his swords out to either side. When the spinning ceased, the man had slain around a dozen of the creatures then proceeded to hack at the rest, in what seemed to Nevera, to be a screaming frenzy.
As Nevera watched the seemingly helpless creatures come to their end she found herself thinking that this was not how to keep balance in the world. She felt as though this man was disturbing the Great Cycle of Being. Her lessons about the balance between good and evil flooded back to her. She needed to do something about this. Being the level headed and cautious person Nevera was, she decided watch this man for a while. She silently followed him and watched in shock as he slaughtered group after group of these little creatures. When Nevera finally felt she had seen enough she began to formulate a plan in her mind about how to stop this genocide. She became so engrossed in her planning she didn’t realize how far out of the safety of the shadows she had wandered until she stepped on a brittle stick and a cracking noise echoed in the quiet of a recently finished battle.
Panicking Nevera felt sure she had just given away herself and her fight would be sooner than she was ready for. The young priestess almost screamed when she was suddenly pulled backward but a quick hand covered her mouth and she heard quits but powerful words fill her ear.
“Be quiet girl, unless you wish for your journey to end as abruptly as it started.” the female voice said, cold but comforting at the same time. Nevera found herself pulled into a fairly large bush and when she finally regained her ability to hold her voice, tapped the hand upon her mouth. Not even turning to see who had just saved her the trouble of a battle she was not ready for, Nevera simply focused on the man she was now hiding from. After a very long few minutes of searching, the man laughed heartily shouted into the jungle.
“That’s right!” he shouted. “Run away you little devils. I will see you again soon, you can count on that. I promise not to rest until I have freed this jungle of your kind.” The man held his swords with the tips straight up into the air with no more trouble than a child would hold sticks and wandered off. Nevera took note that he was headed in the general direction of the camp she found earlier.
“What are you doing out here child?” asked the cold but calm voice. “Do you not know any better than to wander the wilderness, following barbarians?” it continued. “This world was dangerous enough with the Prime Evils ravishing the lands but now that they are dead, men show their true face. What an ugly face it is too.” Nevera slowly turned to face her admonisher. The woman who saved her life looked even more deadly than she sounded. Her black hair was tied back showing a face that though scared as it was, lost no beauty. She wore armor of green chainmail that clung to her body and showed her womanly figure. She wore no gauntlets and her boots seemed to be of the same leather as Nevera’s, except these were green also. As Nevera stared into the piercing blue eyes of the woman crouched in the bush with her, words formed in her mind but she could not allow them to fall from her lips.
“Speak child, I will not harm you.” The woman said obviously noticing Nevera was duly afraid of her. Nevera cleared her throat and croaked more than spoke.
“My, my name is Nevera Morena. I am a priestess of Rathma. My business out here is none of yours.” She managed to say with more conviction than she knew she possessed. “As for that, what was it you called him? A barbarian?”
“Do not be so bold with me child!” exclaimed the woman rising and exiting their hiding spot. “I could have left you to that brute and I promise you that is not something you would wish upon your worst enemy.” She continued, “As for your business, if it involves killing him my only concern is that you will damage the ear I have been hired to forcibly part from his body. If you wish to get yourself killed, please hurry. Maybe the distraction will be just the edged I need to complete my quest.” When the woman finished the held her hand and stared down to the still crouching Nevera.
“I am sorry” said Nevera quietly grabbing the extended hand and pulling herself up and out of the bushes to stand in front of this woman. Not knowing what scared her more, the hulking man who wielded two very large swords like toys, or this woman no taller than Nevera, was very unsettling to her. “Do you plan on killing that man?” she asked feeling some of her earlier conviction returning to her.
“Yes I do child.” was the simple and terse reply.
“Can I come with you?” she asked feeling like a child asking a parent if she could tag along on a small trip.
