Act 2

After the tragedy that befell upon her, Natalia voluntarily evicted herself from the Church of light. With melancholy and remorse, she strides away from the place she called shelter. She became weak because of her arrogance and she paid the price, bitterly. Away from the place, she knows like the back of her hand; a new chapter of her life unfolds before her. Traversing through clusters of islands, arduous mountain chains, sailing through raging tempests on the wide ocean and unfamiliar terrains, with a destination unknown even to her. She wanders days and months under the blazing sun or cold rains as she trains her body, heart, and soul along the way. Almost a year after, she encounters a colony of beastmen living at a rainforest where she temporarily resided, they were amicable and hospitable regardless of your race. Their technology is quite primitive; living inside the trunks of a tree, using animal pelt and leaves as clothing, weapons are unrefined crafts of woods and stones but their affinity to magic is on par to the high elves. Nana, chief's daughter of the beastmen colony, accompanies her from time to time in her hunting, making the prey more easily to catch with her polymorphism magic. She might be puny in stature and soothing in appearance but her magic can intimidate a creature ten times bigger than her. It seems a peaceful place to live in but there's no place that malice can't reach; just recently, a few kilometers away from the colony, a settlement of dark elves causes disruption to the balance of nature. The chief called his subordinates for a meeting as soon as he felt that the colony is almost falling into chaos.

"Our stock of food is slowly depleting and these dark elves are contaminating our source of water."

"The children and women are getting sick for an unknown cause. If we don't do anything a pandemic might break out."

"It's all those darn dark elves' fault! They should be condemned!!"

It's like a market on a Sunday morning, the meeting hall reverberates as the beastmen bark their complaints and opinions. The atmosphere is chaotic, everyone is scared to what will happen to their beloved colony, but the chief returns the silence with a single strike on the round table.

"SILENCE!... We are here to solve the problem, not to cry like mad dogs deprived of their bones."

He pauses and exhales to calm himself, the veins on his forehead slowly disappear along with the reddish colored face caused by anger, before he resumes his talk

"We still don't know their purpose, how many are they and their military power. If possible I would like to solve this matter peacefully, but it seems that it's out of the question. One of our patrol units was attacked by the dark elves and only one of them survived with fatal wounds. If we're not cautious our troops might perish without a fight."

An uncomfortable silence veils the hall, no one could retort to what the chief has said. The beastmen aren't used on conflicts with other races, they lived in harmony with nature and the thought of war never crossed their minds, premature on tactics and warfare they would stand no chance if they leave the rainforest.

"There's a dozen of them where eight are combatants and the remaining are magic users..."

Natalia suddenly appears in front of them along with Nana, covered in mud and leaves with a foul smell hovering around them. The beastmen jumped in surprise for the unannounced appearance of the two.

"... It seems that their purpose is the life force of every living being in the rainforest. If we don't act now this colony will become a graveyard within a week and the rainforest will become a barren land within a month."

"Wha-... How did you get this information?"

A beastman asks unconvinced by Natalia's word while the others murmur by the information achieved. Only the chief remains silent, contemplating and observing. Nana stepped forward and answered the question and the doubts arising from their faces,

"I and Natalia conducted a reconnaissance."

"Nana, I told you to never go near that place. How dare you defy me?"

"But father, I can't stand the fact that our people are suffering. I can't just ignore them."

"That is not a valid reason to disobey me. You know full well that-"

"Sir, Nana has compassion for your people. Disobeying you is not good but she has shown bravery and the capability to protect the colony. Have some faith to your daughter and let her decide for herself. I, Natalia, believe that she'll bring peace to this land and to your colony."

The chief's fury subsides but his heavy breathing keeps the air tensed up, it became silent for a few seconds before he regains composure

"So what's the plan?"

"Father, if I may..."

Nana explained to them the tactic, what is needed and how many men are necessary for it to succeed. Natalia will assist them, her strength is crucial for the beastmen who has zero experience in battles like this. The meeting and preparation for the fight lasted until daybreak and they will execute it at dusk after taking a rest to energize their body and mind.

When the first star appeared at the crimson sky and a cold night breeze creates howling noises as it traverses the rainforest, the two marched toward the camp of the dark elves along with the 15 recruited beastmen and three swamp wolves, creatures similar to normal wolves but with higher intelligence and the ability to breathe underwater, they are the best suited for a surprise attack on this kind of terrain. Seven of the beastmen will join Natalia on the frontline with the goal of pushing the dark elves back while the remaining, including Nana, will assist from the sides with long distance attacks and elemental magic; the swamp wolves, on the other hand, will flank the enemies, encircling them to lessen their chance of escape.

"Have no fear, my people, for the deity Adea will guide us through victory, deity Iraula will protect us from any harm and deity Dymdei will bestow us the power to surpass any obstacle."

Nana proclaims to invigorate the troops before going to their designated position. The dice had been cast as the frontline charges through the camp catching the unprepared dark elves by surprise with a battle cry that resonates all through the rainforest. A scream perforates through the sounds of butting clubs and blades as one of the dark elves got impaled on Natalia's claw, blood spurting like a fountain as the entrails flops out of the dark elf's body. Demoralized and terrorized, the others went in disarray, trying to escape the battle but to no avail, as they got intercepted by Nana and the other beastmen pinning them at the center of the battlefield with a barrage of long-distance attacks. A rain of boomerangs, arrows, and fireballs comes toward them; the smell of burnt flesh wasps in the air as an unfortunate soul flail and runs in despair as it tries to put the fire out, some were hit by the arrows slowing them and rendering them susceptible to fatal hits from the frontlines. The wolves leap on the scene strangling and immobilizing the enemies with their sharp fangs, breaking the bones and amputating their legs or arms; it's like a portrait of hell, dismembered bodies scattered on the ground, burning corpses, organs splattered like butter and marinated with their own blood while accompanied by screams of pain and cries of fear.

Only two dark elves were left, one of them is surprisingly unscathed while the other half-dead; also, the beastmen forces are reduced in half as a few perished, some are heavily injured and most are tired or out of magic essence. Natalia, the only capable of fighting at the moment, sweeps forward slicing the head of the half-dead clean as a loaf bread to a grinder scattering the brain into bits like pudding splatted on the floor. She then sweeps back aiming the other with a whirling movement, she felt the tip of the claw connect as it lacerates the body of the dark elf. But dumbfounded she looks at the enemy, still unscathed and eerily laughing while taking a stance to attack,

"Now have a taste of my blades."

The dark elf darts making Natalia flinch for a second but with quick reflexes, she dodges the sudden charge with a smoke bomb and fades within the smoke.

"Surrender dark elf, admit defeat and I will spare your life."

"I? Karina, the pride of the dark elves, grovel to the likes of an inferior species like yours? Over my cadaver!"

Sparks and scintillating sounds emerge from the thick smoke, a restless clanking of metals; the clashing ceases as a boomerang cuts through the smoke clearing the view.

"Be careful Natalia! She's using phantasm to evade your attacks."

Nana shrieks as she barely catches the boomerang, fatigued and superficial wounds restrict her movements. Karina instantly pounces toward the wounded beastman to silence it but the intent was negated by its polymorph magic, transforming Karina into a harmless critter. Natalia didn't waste a single second and minced the enemy with a flurry of slashes spurting blood all over the place. When Karina returned to her original form her body is carved with deep scratches, almost disfigured, arms and shoulders hanging by the tendons and her intestines poking out from the wounds. A dark vapor dissipates from her body as life abandons her, with the remaining vitality she pleads to Natalia.

"Please... Save my people... From... Vexana's grasp."

"I will bring fort justice to this twisted world and may your soul find peace in the afterlife."

She replies at Karina's last words. The beastmen rejoices in silence for the victory as they return home, carrying their dead valiant comrades who offered their lives for the future of the colony. A couple of weeks after, Natalia decides to resume her journey and bid farewell to the colony of beastmen. Nana cried the loudest and wanted her to stay a little longer,

" I'm sorry Nana, I'd like to but the fight is far from over."

Granted with the blessings of the deities, Natalia sets off with a big smile on her face.