Dawn painted the Dark Wood's edge in shades of amber and blood, the red sap oozing from the black bark of the ancient trees. Thorne watched from Haven's Rest's eastern wall as settlers dragged the Gorack's massive corpse away from the fortifications. Such creatures were too valuable to waste - the stone-like hide could be fashioned into armor, while the molten copper of its eyes would fetch a fine price from Nuvalis's artificers.
"The merchants will be pleased," Sir Lucanas said, joining her at the wall. Echo's crystalline wings chimed softly in the morning breeze. "A Gorack corpse more than makes up for the delay in their schedule."
Thorne nodded, though her attention was drawn to the Dark Wood's depths. Something about the Gnarlhounds' behavior still troubled her. "They were running from something worse than a Gorack," she said finally. "I've never seen alphas abandon their territory like that."
The ruins of an ancient crystal spire jutted from the forest nearby, its once-proud form now twisted by the Dark Wood's corruption. Such remnants of the First Contact Period stood as stark reminders of how both Eldoria and Nuvalis had once tried to tame these lands, before the forest showed them the folly of their ambition.
"We should move soon," Lucanas said, his weathered hands tracing the ward-stones embedded in the wall. "The capital is two weeks' ride, assuming the weather holds and the Wood permits passage." He paused, turning his scarred face toward her. "Are you ready for what awaits you there?"
"As ready as one can be to join a legendary order of crystal-wielding warriors," Thorne replied dryly, a hint of her rarely-seen humor emerging. "Though I assume they'll want me to wear something more formal than battle-scarred armor."
Lucanas chuckled, the sound warm and familiar. "The Crystal Pentarchy does tend toward the theatrical. I remember my own ceremony - they insisted I wear robes covered in so many crystals, I chimed like Echo with every step."
"Somehow I doubt they'll let me show up in my preferred attire." Thorne glanced down at her practical black armor, worn and reliable like an old friend.
"Perhaps not," Lucanas stroked his chin thoughtfully, "though I seem to recall a certain apprentice who once said she'd rather fight a Gorack bare-handed than wear formal Eldorian silk."
"That was before I knew I'd actually have to fight one," Thorne responded, her grey eyes glinting with amusement. She'd learned long ago that her mentor's serene exterior hid a surprisingly playful spirit - one that had helped her rediscover her own capacity for joy after he'd found her.
Their moment of levity was interrupted by the approaching sound of wagon wheels. The Wandering Merchants were preparing to depart, their shadow-core engines humming to life. The caravan's leader, a shrewd-eyed half-elf, approached with purpose.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite pair of crystal-wielding heroes!" Madame Vesper called out, her silver-streaked hair escaping its elegant braid in wild wisps. The half-elf merchant's fine Nuvalis silk coat was, as usual, paired incongruously with heavy leather boots covered in various pouches. "That was quite the light show last night. I counted at least three potential marketable products from that Gorack corpse!"
Thorne raised an eyebrow at the merchant's enthusiasm. "Most people see a rampaging monster. Madame Vesper sees profit margins."
"My dear, when you've been trading as long as I have, everything is a potential commodity," Vesper winked, pulling a small crystal from one of her seemingly endless boot pouches. "Speaking of which... consider this an early Guardian ceremony gift. Been saving it for someone special - or someone who could properly appreciate its value. Preferably both."
"The last 'special item' you gave me turned out to be a self-playing crystal harp that only knew tavern songs," Lucanas reminded her mildly.
"And it was worth every coin you paid to have it 'accidentally' broken," Vesper retorted with a mischievous grin. "Now take it, dear, before I expire from anticipation. I'm not getting any younger, though the elven blood does help with the wrinkles."
Thorne accepted the crystal, feeling its latent energy resonating with her own fire magic. "Thank you, Madame Vesper. Though I suspect this isn't entirely a selfless gift."
"Naturally not! When you're standing in those crystal spires of Eldoria, perhaps you'll remember the charming merchant who saw your potential early," Vesper said with an exaggerated wink, before turning to survey her caravan. "Speaking of potential profits - we should move while the morning light lasts. The Wood tends to get... creative after dark."
The caravan was already forming up, shadow-core engines humming to life in the dawn light. Massive wagons rolled forward on crystal-enhanced wheels, their hybrid golem guards taking position with mechanical precision. The merchants had spared no expense on security - though after last night's display, Thorne understood why.
"We'll take point," Lucanas decided, mounting Echo with practiced grace. "The caravan stays between us. Thorne, you'll guard the rear."
"The route through Twilight Pass is clear, according to our scouts," Vesper added, suddenly all business despite her eccentric appearance. "Though..." She hesitated, her shrewd eyes darkening with concern.
"Though?" Thorne prompted, already astride Inferna whose feathers flickered with anticipation.
"We've lost contact with two of our Market Havens along the eastern route. Complete silence for three days now."
Lucanas's hands tightened on Echo's reins. "The forest is pushing acting stranger than usual. Something's stirring in the Wood." His voice carried the weight of experience from decades of patrolling these borders.
The caravan stretched nearly half a mile - twenty wagons bearing the marks of both kingdoms' craftsmanship. As they moved deeper into the Dark Wood, morning light faded into the forest's eternal twilight. Phosphorescent fungi cast an eerie glow across the cathedral-like spaces between massive trees, their light reflecting off crystalline growths that had been twisted by the forest's influence.
"Remember," Lucanas called back to Thorne, his voice carrying that familiar mix of wisdom and dry humor, "being prepared is step one..."
"Being ready is step two," Thorne finished with a slight smile, an old lesson from her early training days. As Inferna's wings stirred the morning air, she cast one last look at Haven's Rest. Something told her their journey to the capital would be far from routine.
Inferna's wings stirred restlessly as they passed the ruins of Fort Shadowveil, once the longest-surviving outpost in the Dark Wood. Crystal towers stood broken and dark beside rusted golem sentinels, a grim monument to the forest's victory during the Dark Wood Crisis. Thorne spotted the telltale scratches of Dreadcrawler activity on the walls - twisted beasts with no eyes and spiky appendages - while shadow-tech warning beacons lay silent and dead.
"Movement," called one of the merchant guards. "Northern treeline."
From the front of the caravan, Lucanas raised his hand sharply, bringing the convoy to a halt. Through the gloom, Thorne caught glimpses of something massive sliding between the trees. The ground trembled slightly with each movement, disturbing the crystal shards scattered across the forest floor. Thorne and Inferna tried to spot the beast from there spot in the sky.
"Lorican," she called out, recognizing the serpentine shape. "Two breath types!"
The creature emerged into a shaft of filtered light, its form a perversion of the natural order that even the Omicents refused to claim. Its centipede-like limbs carried a body longer than three wagons, while its multiple heads weaved hypnotically through the air. Lightning crackled around one head, while another leaked frost-breath into the humid air.
Sir Lucanas's voice carried from the front, weighted with memories of similar encounters during the Twilight Clash. "It's herding us. There's another presence deeper in the woods."
Thorne felt it too - a familiar heaviness in the air that spoke of more ancient threats. "Gorack territory," she said. "We're being pushed into a monster fight." Her hands tightened on Inferna's reins as she recalled the bestiary's warnings about territorial monster attacks.
The Lorican struck first, its frost-breath head launching forward while lightning gathered around the second. Thorne urged Inferna upward, her mount's flame-bright wings cutting through the gloom. Drawing her twin blades, she channeled her fire through both weapons, their crystal cores humming with familiar power, unlike most people her natural magic fuled the sword instead of the flame crystal.
"Form up!" she heard Lucanas shout to the caravan guards below. The golem sentinels moved into defensive positions, their metallic frames gleaming in the filtered light. As Thorne and Inferna were forced to lead the Lorican away.
The ground erupted beneath the caravan's rear section. A massive stone-like arm shot upward, nearly catching Echo's wing. Sir Lucanas banked sharply, his crystalwing's chimes turning discordant with the sudden movement.
"Young Gorack," he called out, reading the vibrations through the air. "Not fully grown, but large enough to cause problems!" As said Gorack appeared from the wood with two arms and at twelve feet.
Thorne dove at the Lorican, flames wreathing her blades as she struck at the frost-breathing head. The creature recoiled, but its lightning head whipped around with frightening speed. She barely managed to cross her swords in defense as the electrical attack struck.
The crystal core in her right blade screamed in protest. Hairline fractures appeared along its length, the metal housing warping under the combined stress of lightning and her own fire magic. The sword's harmonics began to falter. It couldn't last forever.
"Get those wagons in defensive formation!" Thorne ordered, hoping the merchant guards knew what to do. She'd only seen their caravans pass through Haven's Rest, never in actual combat.
The half-elf leader barked commands in Nuvalan. The wagons' shadow-core engines roared to life as they began to move, the Golems forming a perimeter around the caravan.
The young Gorack fully emerged, its twelve-foot frame throwing shadows across the forest floor. Its molten copper eyes fixed on the caravan while it picked up a small tree and flung it at Sir Lucanas.
"Sir Lucanas!" she called, warning him in time.
Her mentor managed to come down on the Gorack's left arm as Dawnfire sliced through the limb like butter, the severed part incinerated before hitting the ground as the monster screamed.
The Lorican struck again, its frost-breath head launching forward while lightning gathered around the second, as the last heads prepared attacks aimed for the caravan. Thorne urged Inferna upward, her mount's flame-bright wings cutting through the gloom. Drawing her blades, she channeled her fire through the weapons, its crystal cores humming with familiar power. As she flew by once again, this time claiming the frost head of the now enraged beast.
The ground erupted as the Gorack's kick crashed against the first golem. Three of the Golems engaged the Gorack, throwing the monster off balance.
"It may be a young Gorack," Lucanas called out, reading the vibrations through the air. "But now it's agitated!" He said as the he continued his assault.
Thorne dove at the Lorican, flames wreathing her blade as she struck at the lightining-breathing head. The creature recoiled, but its head whipped around with frightening speed.
Thorne's right sword finally gave out, the crystal core shattering as the blade split in two. The backlash of magical energy sent pain shooting through her arm, destroying her arm plates, but she had no time to dwell on it. But she had no time to dwell on it as the Lorican's head was already gathering power for another strike.
"Come on!" Thorne shouted, channeling everything she had through her remaining blade. The sword's crystal core blazed white-hot as Inferna dove toward the Lorican's main body, hoping to reach its heart. The lightning head weaved in a deadly pattern, electricity arcing between its scales as Thorne saw the lighting forming in its mouth.
Behind her, Sir Lucanas and Echo executed a perfect spiral around the Gorack's wild swings, the crystalwing's chimes creating a disorienting pattern that confused the beast's molten copper eyes. The young monster might lack its adult kin's experience, but its ferocity wasn't to be underestimated. The beast kicked one of the Golems into the other while smacking the third with the tree in its hand.
The Lorican's lightning head struck, electricity crackling through the air. Thorne pulled Inferna into a tight roll, her griffin's natural heat creating an updraft that lifted them just above the attack. But the monster was already positioning for another strike, its remaining head moving with desperate fury now that its siblings were gone.
"Now!" Thorne drove her remaining sword straight into the stream of lightning, channeling her fire magic to meet the electrical attack head-on. The blade's crystal core screamed in protest as opposing energies clashed. Pain shot through her arm, but she held firm, using the magic of her blade to peirce through the lighting and to pull herself closer to the creature's heart.
The Gorack chose that moment to hurl one of its tree-clubs. The massive trunk spun through the air, forcing Sir Lucanas to break off his attack. The momentary reprieve let the stone-skinned monster charge forward, directly toward the merchant wagons.
In that moment Thorne was forced to break off and destroy the trunk with a fire blast. Thorne had seconds to make a choice. The Lorican was wounded but her fractured sword had not reached its heart, and the Gorack would reach the caravan before she could finish it, the only chance was Sir Lucanas's blade but she'd have to finish the Gorack so he could get the chance. With a snarl of frustration, she disengaged, swinging Inferna around in a tight arc.
"Sir Lucanas! Switch!"
Her mentor understood instantly. Echo shot upward as Thorne dove past him, her remaining sword trailing fire as she aimed for the Gorack's legs. The creature's stone-like hide might resist normal weapons, but the joints...
The blade bit deep into the monster's knee joint, enhanced by both her fire magic and momentum. The Gorack roared - a sound like an avalanche - as its leg buckled. Behind her, she heard the distinctive chime of Echo's wings change pitch as Sir Lucanas engaged the Lorican. In its weakened state and the confusion they just caused, this was their chance to end these monsters.
But the Gorack wasn't finished. One massive arm swept backward, catching Thorne before she could pull away. The impact sent her tumbling from Inferna's back. She hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the shock as her combat training took over. Her sword, still pulsing with dangerous levels of power, felt ready to shatter in her grip.
The Gorack loomed over her, its copper eyes blazing with primal fury. The Gorack raised its arm for the killing blow. Thorne could hear Inferna screaming above, trying to reach her, but the griffin wouldn't make it in time.
With a split second design she decided to over charge her remaining blade with a significant amount of magic and flung it at the creature. On impact the explosion blew away half of the creater leaving only its legs. As Inferna landed Thorne looked to see Sir Lucanas jumping from echo's back with grace as the Lorican chased after Echo. With that Sir Lucanas landed direction on the monsters heart with his blade. The whole group cheered at the sight of the monsters body lying lifeless.
" I believe we could all use a good rest after that." Madam Vesper said as the two guardians landed back at the center of the caravan. " That is a good assessment Madam." Sir Lucanas responded." You have a suggestoion I take it?" Thorne said exhausted." Yes there should be a clearing half a mile awhead where we have marcket haven wards set up." Vesper responded.
They reached the clearing as dusk painted the Dark Wood in deeper shadows. Behind them, a group of Vesper's more experienced merchants had already begun harvesting the valuable parts of the fallen Gorack - its copper eyes would fetch a fortune from Nuvalis's artificers, while the stone-like hide would be crafted into nearly impenetrable armor. Even its dark ichor was being carefully collected in crystal vials, prized by alchemists for its unique properties. While the Lorican's blood would be used for poisons and different potions along with its other parts being molded to armor and weapons to be sold. It was difficult but they'd managed to drag the monsters behind the wagons.
The clearing itself was tight for their numbers, but the younger trees offered better visibility than the ancient giants they'd passed under all day. More importantly, Thorne could see the remains of old wardstones marking the perimeter, along with what remained of the Golems Madame Vesper had spoken of.
"The wards are dead," she told Sir Lucanas as she examined the stones. "Been that way for months, maybe years."
Her mentor ran his scarred fingers over the nearest wardstone. "But the anchors are intact. With enough power we can kick start them, it'll be faster together." With a nod, Sir Lucanas joined Thorne in recharging the wards. As they did, electricity arced from each ward, then a shimmering shield formed around the camp.
"I'm going to need some new swords." Thorne said ruefully, looking at her empty scabbards on her mount.
"Don't worry. When we get to the capital, Royal Smith Cora will set you up with your own celestial weapons forged from the heart crystals of Eldoria. They will resonate with your soul." Thorne could feel the excitement swelling. She had never been to the country of Eldoria proper, let alone go to live in its capital. " Plus I'm sure the merchants can get you some temporary replacements also." Lucanas suggested. Thorne shrugged though she was too exhausted to think about it.
Around them, the caravan set up for the night. The golem guards formed a perimeter, their shadow-core enhanced frames humming softly in the growing dark. The merchants spoke in hushed tones as they organized their newly acquired Gorack and Lorican materials, occasionally casting appreciative glances at the guardian apprentice who had made their unexpected windfall possible.
She settled at the west end of the camp against Inferna's warm flank, the griffin's heat keeping the forest's chill at bay. Her purple hair caught the light from carefully shielded lanterns as she closed her eyes, wondering what other challenges awaited them on the road to the capital. And if the Wood would let the get there.