The sun had set, but the little left of its brilliance illuminated the remaining moments before dusk. Much like the moon above, the wilderness enters a different phase when night falls.
The afternoon sky dyed in an orange hue gave the woods quite the unreal scenery. Every creature scattered for shelter, preparing themselves before the curtain of darkness arrives.
The Miren Woods was one very unusual forest. The nearly untouched wildlife had thrived to the point of strange possibilities. Flora and fauna never before seen lived in this sea of gargantuan trees. Many avoid travelling or even approaching this part of the map, for news had never been good when the Miren Woods is involved.
And yet deep within, nearly on the heart of all this madness considered, a man walks along with the lumber he'd procured. This lumber he was casually carrying on his shoulder was an entire branch of an Akian Tree.
Nearing over 18 meters in average girth, these specie of trees are the most collosal plantlife in all of Miren.
The man walked at a normal pace whilst having a branch of nearly 2 tons in weight parched on his shoulder, nothing but one arm holding it in place. Not to mention the sheated axe on his back, being over a meter in length and width attached to a thick wooden handle.
Nikolai had just gathered enough firewood for the winter. He was joyous, despite it not showing on his grisly mug that would make even a mother run away in terror.
He was nearly 3 meters tall, coupled with a build that would put a mammoth to shame. Even the size of his wrist is just a little thicker than an adult man's shoulder length. Nikolai isn't a giant. That's just how he really is...as far as he knows.
It'd been a busy day, so he had to put this chore for last. He was itching to get home, but decided not to quicken his pace. He'd known from experience how much disturbance it would cause the other inhabitants.
But nonetheless, his loud footsteps are enough to make most beasts tuck tail and hide, so his little trips had always been peaceful.
"PapĂ ! You're home!"
In the centermost of the Miren Woods, lies the mountain that it's most well-known for.
Often reffered to as the Cursed Tower of Adrakhus, it is the most famous land formation, a 150 meter tall butte to be specific, in all of the Great Continent of Verochka.
And on the top of this absurdly humongous rock, is a cottage.
A little girl, barely visible from below, was waving near the edge of this rock tower. This child is called Seffa, daughter of Nikolai. She had just finished tending to the farm and feeding Matros, their dog.
Nikolai, though enthusiastic, waved back with his never-changing glare, causing the girl to giggle.
He walked around til he reached what looked like some wooden planks stabbed into the tower leading up and acting as stairs. It was a long climb and even the most hardened daredevil would probably crumble to his knees during which. It was really crooked and looked like twigs that would snap at the smallest touch from this man, and yet it held just fine, even with the giant branch on Nikolai's shoulder.
They were Akian planks plunged deep into the mountain's side. This tree wasn't only the biggest, but also the toughest and most useful one out of them all!
"Seffa...I'm home."
"Mm. I've prepared dinner. I thought papĂ would be famished after his trip."
Those words struck a chord in this boulder-of-a-man's heartstrings.
"Firewood...winter...prepare." He said with a big smile that can be easily mistaken for a bloodthirsty grimace.
"Hmm. With this much, we should have more than enough for the coming season. Maybe we could spare some for Matros to chew on..? She broke her toy again papĂ . Such a clutz that big lug."
She chattered along as they walked. Nikolai was all ears to his adorable daughter. The man cherished his child dearly.
Nikolai had set aside the woodwork for later. The two were greeted by a hulking canine, free of chains and collars, and was riddled with tiny scars around its ripped bod.
It lept at Nikolai with the force of a truck. Yet he didn't even flinch after receiving a tackle that would have killed normal people, fully absorbing the impact.
Matros, rather than bark or howl, roared as she welcomed her master home.
WROARF WROARF
As far as one can tell, she was a mutant crossbreed between a wolfhound and a mastiff. The mutant part comes in the fact that she's well over thirty long years old.
"Good girl...good girl." was all Nikolai could say as the dog licked his face with affection.
"C'mon papĂ ! The meal's getting cold."
Night had settled in after the family had finished supper. After Seffa had finished preparing for bed, they had gone outside for their usual routine.
The night sky was lost behind the drifting clouds, a forewarning of the following season. Each evening that a season ends, the family burns some Faelis Plant's roots as an offering for good fortune and health for the family, as well as for the prosperity of the Miren Woods.
This has been the century-long tradition of the ancestors of Seffa's late mother. Nikolai wanted to keep it as something to remember the only person who'd given and taught him unconditional love after she'd succumbed to illness.
Seffa barely knew her, on the other hand, and only lives in memory through the words of her father.
'...PapĂ always makes this sad face everytime he talks about MamĂ , but he sounds fond of her still.'
After the offering, the ashes of the Faelis Plant's roots are scattered in the wind and they say prayers of gratitude to end the ceremony.
.
So on and so forth, the days passed and winter came.
The world was coated around in white, and the Miren Woods glistened as treetops were covered in snow.
Seffa and Matros could be seen playing in the field in front of their cottage. Nikolai was busy adjusting the makeshift greenhouse tent he'd set up around the farm. It was stitched up leather from various animals he'd hunted before.
They've been living here for years, Seffa was born 7 years ago. During this period in time, Nikolai had managed to build multiple structures around the butte's surface.
Watchtowers on four sides, a wooden watertank, a pulley elevator system for the water or goods he'd collected, there's the 30 square meter farm, he's even built his own smithy and warehouse, and tools like that humongous axe were all handmade.
There were many things a man could do in his leisure but Nikolai could probably build a fortress with his.
"PapĂ ! PapĂ !"
Seffa came riding on Matros' back to Nikolai, busy chopping the wood he'd collected into size.
"PapĂ ! There's a person! There's someone down there and they waved at me!"
He froze.
Nikolai suddenly felt nauseous.
"Seffa...in house...Matros...with me."
The dog seemed to sense it's owner's sudden agitation and bolted straight for the house with Seffa in tow.
He brought his axe with him and headed for the warehouse. Upon entering, he took off his winter coat and shifted one of the long worktables to the side, revealing a hidden compartment. It opened with a light press and held inside a golden gauntlet shaped to look like a bear's head, it's size appropriate for Nikolai. He quickly snagged the weapon and put it on.
Ignitia the Gauntlet.
Nikolai clenched his right arm. The weapon flickered in a yellow glow and transformed to cover Nikolai's whole arm in a metallic golden fur that solidified after the transformation.
.
"So the rumors were true after all...he'd bore a child."
Phillis fixed the ribbon of his leather suit beneath the thick, patterned furcoat he was sporting. Steampunk glasses, tight, leather gloves, and a cane. The man had long black hair that fell down to his waist and beneath those glasses glowed a pair of blood-red eyes.
BOOM
The snow had blown up into fog as Nikolai landed on one knee and his gauntlet. His body emitted a yellow haze that gave off a dangerous edge.
"It's been a long time...Butcher."
"Why now?...Hunter." He returned the greeting by lifting his axe over his shoulder.
"You've become quite the father now haven't you, my friend? I've decided to pay a visit to an old acquaintance. I sense quite the ill welcome, sadly."
"Unlike-...-ly...want truth."
A small grin appeared on Phillis' face.
"You never grew out of that two-syllable speech of yours." He said, reaching inside his suit and retrieving a scroll wrapped in a black ribbon silk.
"The Lord summons you. Your services has been demanded, Nikolai Elliot. As per the contract, the Catastrophe Class Elite Knight has been granted freedom with the condition that he return to duty by the Lord of Orophrus' commandâ"
"Enough...not now...I have...daughter." He responded, averting his gaze.
"...you were bound to say that." Phillis sighed, fixing the scroll and handing it to Nikolai who promptly received it.
"Well, my work here is done. I would love the pleasure of having a deathmatch between the two of us catching up, but unfortunately I am without leisure as I currently am. Farewell, Butcher. Tata~!"
He'd gone as quickly as he'd arrived.
<'Damn bat.'> he thought.
"Come out...Matros."
The tree's shadows seemed to bend away from daylight. Matros appeared behind Nikolai and calmly sniffed on the scroll he was holding.
Nikolai closed his eyes, crumpling the scroll in a fist.
<'Dammit! There's no point in having regrets now.'>
It had been 15 years.
15 years since that bloody contract.
.
Amira bathed in the moonlight, with the silk barely covering her perfect figure. The sky was clear and the midnight winds blew softly through the Lord's chambers.
"A wonderful evening to you, Milady. I've done as told, the letter has been successfully delivered."
One of her jewelries, a silver bracelet enamoured with various gems of color, glowed as Phillis' voice sounded.
"How is he?"
"Well, just as you'd expect...rough as he's always been. More fatherly? Perhaps? We haven't had time to indulge in lengthy formalities see. But I have to say, the man is overprotective, he went feral when I merely waved back at his daughter!"
Amira flinched at the word 'daughter'. Her eyes fell to the floor, pristine and pale, as she unwittingly started caressing her knee-length, straight, white hair.
"I see...a child is it? Describe her."
Phillis smirked, touching an old scar near his throat.
"The lass is a perfect copy of his late wife."
She sighed.
Amira walked back into her chambers from the veranda of her castle tower. The room was unlit, other than the moonlight illuminating the dark in a lazed hue. Her eyes glowed like a cat's, a looming pair that then found itself in the mirror.
"I can imagine how he treasures her so, after the life of his beloved slipped between his hands like sand. Even with Ignitia, the Regenerator couldn't undo the dying curse of Agatha."
She said, a slim silver dagger twirling as it floated on her fingers.
"Gods. She's a pain in the as* even in the afterlife. I can't even count how many of my precious suits were scorched in that battle. Too bad you can't demand payment from a corpse."
The dagger flew back into place along with a staggering amount of blades mounted on the rooms walls. Amira placed her palm on the mirror. It shuddered slightly before numerous glowing symbols appeared on the three glass surfaces.
"We have more pressing issues at hand than the past and dead. Right now, Ignitia's wielder is the only one who can resolve the current predicament without having to dabble in Forbidden Arts."
Phillis frowned. The trip back to the empire took about four days at the best pace on his flying carriage, losing a lot of critical time.
<'Nikolai's always had a big heart. But now...I'm not sure he'll comply with a command asking him to abandon his daughter in order to save the Orophrus Empire.'>
"For that my Lord, we can only hope he's kept that dog-like loyalty of his after all these years. Else...well, desperate times require drastic measures."
The conversation suddenly struck a dark chord. Unveiling before her eyes, Amira watched as another kingdom was enveloped in chaos. People were getting torn apart limb from limb like stuffed dolls. Blood and guts dyed red the land whilst screams of terror filled the night like a horrific symphony.
It was a scene that would make war veterans tremble, yet Amira was even calmer than before.
"The Hovarin Kingdom has fallen to the swarm. The ghouls have trippled in number and are advancing towards Orophrus eastwards. Accounting all variables, these abominations don't even require rest so they'll probably reach the border in a week tops."
She narrated. The mirror hummed once more and the scenery changed into one overlooking the Bordertown of Askal.
Phillis listened intently, he was communicating with Amira through a Magical Object that was his left earing.
"Damn. Brutus? I allow you to use everything we have on board, just get me back home sooner." Brutus was the coachman of Dullahan, the flying carriage.
"Aye, master sir!" He replied merrily.
"Milady, I believe it'd be best we abandon Askal and instead turn it into a minefield. The Engineering Corps had just finished developing new models, or so I heard. Evacuate all the citizens andâ"
"Who do you take me for? Stop ordering me." she interrupted with an annoyed tone.
"I've thought farther ahead so let me handle the strategy, we both know I'm a prodigy in the field. You focus on getting back here and go procure some oil from the black market, as much as you can."
"Forgive my rudeness, milady. Tis but a gesture of assurance and support, I shall return soon."
"Hmph. Soon you shall." and with that the gems' light faded.
Amira moved away from the mirror and the room's lamps shone with a snap. Her closets held more than 50 different silky garments and a little less than a hundred more formal wear of varying styles.
<'And soon shall you as well, my Nicholas.'>
She thought as she brought out a brown scarf from a hidden box behind the closet. Amira sniffed and caressed it on her face like a precious memory, her long ears fluttering so.
"Soon shall you."
.