Wyrmwell Forest

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

The taiga forest at the foothills of the Wyrmwell mountains.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar perches in a branch, observing the girl, she glides down and raises her hands, showing to her that she means no threat. “Little one, I am not with the raiders, you are safe.”

[[deleted user]]

Ula Samwin gasps, startled when the birdwoman glides down from the trees. She looks up at Annar terrified. Tears stream down her face. She doesn't feel safe. Not yet. "Who - who are you?" she stammers.

Druk trudges through the trees, leading Trush and Ferg. "Annar? Where are you?" he calls.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar calls back, “Quiet down, we got a survivor.” Annar kneels before the girl and places her weapons on the ground a backs away. “I am Annar Staker, diplomat and wanderer.”

[[deleted user]]

Ula watches as the weapons are placed on the ground in front of her. "My momma and pappa are gone. The men killed them. They killed everyone." Her voice trembled as she hugged her knees. "I don't know what to do now."

Druk heard Annar and he quieted down. When he approached the location and saw the girl, he immediately felt sorry for her. "Is everything alright?" he asked Annar. "Is she hurt?"

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“She’s not hurt, only frightened.” Annar reaches out a hand, offering it to the girl as a form of comfort. The girl reminds Annar of herself so much that it seems too coincidental, something must have arranged this. “Don’t worry little one, they will never hurt anyone ever again.”

[[deleted user]]

"No, they won't," Druk says as he approaches and stands behind Annar. "They are surely in the deepest pit of Hel now. What's your name?"

"Ula," the girl answers. Her electric blue eyes focus on Druk a moment and then back at the woman. She trembled from the cold. Her cloak was missing, having been torn off by the evil man on horseback. "I'm so cold," she moans still hugging herself.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar pulls a cloak made from her own feathers from her bag and hands it to the girl. “Here little one.” Annar picks up and sheathes her swords and holsters her crossbow. “Your name is a fine one, do you have any aunts or uncles?”

[[deleted user]]

Ula takes the offered garment and hesitates momentarily before putting it on. It smelled familiar and reminded her of the icy mountains icy tulips that grew there.

"I have an aunt in Celesthold and a cousin in the mountains, I don't know where exactly."

Druk took a water skin from his saddle bag and offered it to the girl. "Here, you must be thirsty," he offered, and she quietly took it and drank. Druk looked at Annar. "Well - what do you suggest? Shall we take her Celesthold to her aunt?"

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“I’m considering both options. Little one would you tells us your last name?” Annar stands up and spreads her wings, her snowy white feathers rustling in the wind.

[[deleted user]]

"Samwin," the girl says. She hands the waterskin back to Druk who takes it.

"Sound familiar to you?" he asks Annar. In the meantime, Frug wonders off after catching a sent, while Tush, nibbles foliage from a nearby tree.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“Oh! I know your cousin, he is a good friend of mine.” Annar smiles, offering her hand to Ula and plucks one of her feathers to put in Ula’s hair.

[[deleted user]]

Ula brightened. “You know Gerg?” Gerg was her mother’s nephew, and the last Ula had heard about him, was that he used to be a soldier. Taking Annar’s offered hand, Ula smiled softly as the bird-woman tucked a feather into her hair. “Will you take me to Gerg? The last I saw him I was just a little kid, but I remember he was so nice to me.”

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“Of course little one. It would be my pleasure to bring you to him.” Annar turns to Durk, smiling broadly. “How about it? We were already heading there anyway.”

[[deleted user]]

Druk shrugged. "Sure. I'm game. Would you like to ride with me?" he asked the girl.

"Sure," Ula said, "but - can I go and see my parents and siblings before we go?"

Druk blushed. He'd felt ashamed that he didn't think of that first. "Of course, you can. Of course." He glanced at Annar. "Let's go."

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar nods and lifts off the ground to fly back to the caravan. “I’ll see you there.” She follows the wind currents to glide as quickly as possible.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

((Bump))

[[deleted user]]

On the way back to the caravan and the slaughter that had taken place, Ula told herself that she would not cry. Flowers grew in the forest, and she picked some as she walked. She gathered an assortment of blossoms - fireweed and rosemary – and breathed deeply their calming scent.

Druk trudged silently behind the child, his face grim. He led Trush while Ferg trotted up ahead. When they reached the caravan, he watched the girl as she headed over to the main carriage and looked within. Her parents both lay askew, clothes bloodied, their skin pale as they lay in death.

“We cannot leave them like this,” Ula said.

“What would you have me do?”

She looked up at Druk. “We must bury them.”

It took several hours to dig four graves, but Druk worked hard and, thankfully, not alone. By dusk they were ready.

Ula placed blossoms over the graves of her mother, father, sister and brother, and when she was done, she returned to where Druk and Annar waited and said, “I’m ready to go.” Then she moved past the two and headed over to Druk’s horse.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar places a feather on each of the graves and steps over to Ula. “How do you want to travel, little one?” She turns and gestures for Druk to approach as well. “It will be a few days if we go by how the crow flies, though if we stick to the roads it should only take half a week to arrive at the Wyrmwell Mountains.”

[[deleted user]]

Ula shyly looked up at Annar. "I'm afraid of heights. Is it alright if I ride with you Druk?"
Druk grinned. "Sure." He glanced at Annar and didn't think she'd been put off by the girl's preference.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar shrugs, retrieving her bolts and putting them back in her quiver before flapping once and lifting off into the air. “The mountains’ foothills are that way.” Annar points in a direction not entirely taken by the road. “I’ll take point.”

[[deleted user]]

Druk turned to Trush and mounted, then pulled up the girl. He whistled to Ferg, and the trio set off in the direction of the foothills.
Ula held tightly to the barbarian. She was used to riding horseback and had little complaint. As night fell, a full moon rose filling the sky with its brilliance.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar flew quickly, leading the duo on the ground through the hills under the gleaming full moon.

[[deleted user]]

After several hours riding Druk felt the child tap him. "What is it?" he asked.
"I have to pee," she said.
After drawing Trush's reins, Druk let Ula down, and waited for her to go. As she wondered into the bushes, he looked up at the sky and raised a hand and his voice to alert Annar that they were taking a quick break.
When the girl returned, she was yawning and looked weary. It had been a very long and stressful day. Back in the saddle, she held on and as Trush started up again at a canter.
"How much longer will we ride? I'm tired and hungry."
"Give us another hour or two, then we'll stop for rest. Alright?" he said and felt the girl nod against his back.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar glides through the air, letting the wind ruffle through her feathers. Down below she watches as Druk rides with Ula, While looking down she runs into a tree but quickly recovers and continues flying.

[[deleted user]]

Druk and Ula rode for several more hours until the moon set, and it seemed the child would slip from the saddle from lack of sleep. He dismounted in a glade near a small stream and settled Ula in his sleeping roll in the hollow of a tree. There he sat down and made a small fire in such a way that the flame couldn't be seen and heated up a small meal of rabbit he'd caught the day prior. There was enough for more than one.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar refuses the meal, instead eating a few nuts and berries she knows aren’t poisonous to her. “Are we setting down for the night?” She asks Druk.

[[deleted user]]

Druk leans back against a tree and fishes around in a pocket for his pipe and tobacco. "Yeah. The kid's tired and so am I." Ferg pads over and lays his head against Druk's thigh.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“I’ll take watch, I don’t really use much energy when up there.” Annar unslings her crossbow and stands on top of a nearby hill.

[[deleted user]]

"Thanks," Druk lit the pipe and settled back. He glanced over at the kid every so often, but she was out like a light.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar takes to using her bolts to weave a scarf out of her feathers and some extra wool for Ula. After the night passes uneventfully, Annar hands the scarf to Druk. “For Ula is she gets cold.”

[[deleted user]]

Druk took the well-crafted scarf and placed it in his saddlebag for the girl. He glanced at her again and heard her snoring softly. He yawned and stretched out under the tree. "Wake me when it's time to leave," he told Annar, then closed his eyes.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar returns to her post, her heart heavy after the day’s adventures. “Why does Ula act so much like me? I remember something like this happening to me as well.” Annar brushes her scarf, feeling the soothing presence of the feathers, before she startles, dropping her crossbow and crying out in sorrow as she realizes who Ula is. “I’m Ula. Why have I found my younger self?”

[[deleted user]]

Druk startled awake when he heard Annar cry out. "Annar?" he said, his heavy accented voice a bit drowsy as his awareness returned. "Are you alright?" He stood, jostling Ferg away from him, and approached the birdwoman, his hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. Ula was still sleeping but she grumbled something in the night and turned over upon her leafy bed. Druk watched Annar and waited for her to speak.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no.” Annar curls up, her wings forming a cocoon around her form as she cries while moving her fingers over the scarf around her neck, reminding her of the figure she had looked up to. “Why must this cycle continue?”

[[deleted user]]

Troubled, Druk crouched beside Annar and gently placed a hand underneath her wing and reached for her shoulder. He shook her gently. Was she having a panic attack? "Annar what's wrong? Please tell me." He frowned at the confused words she was saying. What cycle was she speaking of?

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar throws her wings open, before revealing the secret she held, it was the scarf, just like the one she made for Ula but it had obviously seen better days. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” “I obviously can’t change it, but why do I need to be in charge of my younger self.” She sobs into the scarf, her crossbow laying forgotten a few feet away.

((Thoughts are in italics from now on.))

[[deleted user]]

[Got it.]

This was troubling. Druk had no idea what was going on and he did not know what to do. He remembered what his father did when Druk's younger sister let her emotions get the better of her, but Druk didn't feel comfortable slapping the sense back into Annar. He sat there and continued to shake her shoulder. "Annar, please," he said. "Tell me what's wrong?"

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“I-I can’t.” This was the first time Druk had heard this Annar stutter, and it feels out of character. She reaches down to her hip and pulls off a talisman, one from her child hood. “Go compare this to the charm on her necklace, then you’ll most likely understand.” Annar picks up her crossbow and pulls another item off of her waist and slots it into the bolt slot in her crossbow.

[[deleted user]]

Druk's blond eyebrows drew close as he watched Annar and listened to her speak. The stuttering she did was strange and when she gave him the talisman, he took it without hesitation. Moonlight made it visible as it lay in his palm. The design reminded him of the tattoo on his arm that Annar had made when they agreed to journey together, but it was different in many ways.

"Alright," he said and stood. He went over to the girl who was still deep asleep and crouched down beside her. Her snores were light as Druk compared the symbol of the talisman he held and the charm that was on Ula's gold necklace. The two were same.
He returned to Annar scratching his forehead with his thumb.

"They're similar," he said, giving the talisman back to her. "But...but does that mean you and Ula are related?"

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“Technically, yes. Her wings just haven’t grown in yet.” Annar aims her crossbow at the sky, and the thing in her bolt slot makes sense, it’s a flare. She takes a deep breath and steadies herself. “Her scarf and mine, the talismans, it doesn’t add up for you?”

[[deleted user]]

Druk stood there and crossed his arms while thinking. "So, you mean to say that you and Ula are the same person? You're her and she's you? But..." He scratched the back of his head. "How is that possible?" He gazed up at the sky as she shot the flare. "Why are you doing that?" he asked and lowered his gaze again to settle on Annar. "Are you signaling to someone?"

Ferg whimpered as he came over to Druk and leaned against his leg. The girl was still asleep but was awakened by her urge to go pee. She sat up slowly rubbing her eyes and when she saw Druk and Annar standing and speaking she asked, "What's going on?"

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“Something important to me, but it won’t matter to you.” Turning back to Druk, she whispers, “Time portal shenanigans got me here, maybe just after my thirtieth birthday. As for the flare, you’ll see in a few seconds. I remember these next moments completely.”

[[deleted user]]

"Oh, well in that case..." Ula shrugged and wondered into the bushes to relieve herself.

Druk continued to frown as Annar spoke. He'd heard of time portals but never in his short life had he ever delt with one. "What are they like? The portals I mean," he asked.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

“I can’t remember. GO, go get her and run for the mountains.” Annar pulls out a modified arbiter and places it on the hill, aiming it at the road behind them. She reloads her crossbow and aims the arbiter at the center of the road, then does the same with five others. “I can’t talk about this, but this is the last memory she will have of me. Run.”

[[deleted user]]

Druk didn't fully understand what was happening but the urgency in Annar's voice got him moving. He called out for Ula and told her they needed to leave quickly.
"But why? What's happening?" She asked as she emerged from the bushes.
"We need to go; there's no time to explain. Hurry."
As soon as they were mounted, they rode off, Ferg trailing them. Ula clung tightly to Druk's jerkin and looked back. "Where's Annar?" she asked.
"She'll catch up with us," Druk said as he urged his mare to a full gallop.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

A roar shakes the earth, and a Greatwyrm explodes from the ground where Annar aimed the arbiters, and seeing this, she fires all of them, along with unloading every single bolt she has from her crossbows at the Greatwyrm. In some twist of fate, all her bolts strike and stick into the Greatwyrm, with the arbiter bolts carving huge chunks out of it. “Hah. This will do.” Annar takes to the air and pulls the final bolt from her quiver, and loads it into her magnified crossbow. “For the protection of others, I call upon Fidacri, the Fallen Angel of Protection!” Annar takes aim and pulls the trigger, launching a glowing bolt as it grows in size until it’s the size of a tree and strikes the Greatwyrm between the eyes as she dives down, her speed matching the bolt’s and she ends the fight with her impact, driving the magical bolt into it’s brain as she falls unconscious and falls away from it’s body, her own body cracked and broken as she hits the ground, her wings taking the fall and shattering further.

[[deleted user]]

The sound of an explosion reached their ears and Druk pulled his horse to an abrupt halt. As the mare grunted and danced, Druk looked back to where they had left Annar and saw smoke rising. He felt Ula squeezing him tight, her fear evident.
"What's happening?" she asked, voice tremulous.
"I don't know." Druk said.
"Is Annar going to be alright?"
Druk fell silent. He wasn't sure what was happening. "Let's wait for a moment and see if she comes."

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

Annar remain unconscious, but the Greatwyrm’s children burst from the ground near Druk, roaring as they do. They try to encircle the duo.

[Guardian Of The Flowers, Resident Xehrundian]

((Bump))