Isolda

She decided to shadow hop the rest of the way back to the campsite, she had came to her senses once the mageboy in the green robes disappeared into the darkness. She was angry with herself for a moment, acting like a swooning little girl over a boy. He bounced through the shadows popping up in all sorts of places around the camp before finally popping out of a shadow of a tall pine tree.

She found Yoka sitting by the fire with a pile of old wood by her side. She had laid a few new logs on the fire just stared into it blankly. "Isolda" she said without raising her eyes from the dancing flames. "where did you go?" her voice almost felt accusing, "I couldn't sleep, I decided to take a walk around the wood in the camp. why are you still awake?"

Yokas head rose, something felt wrong to Isolda, there was a pressure in the air as if some great tension had built. Isolda continued to walk toward Yoka but was more alert. Something wasn't right, Isolda noticed Yoka had something in her hands, the fire obscured her vision of what it was but she felt something dark coming from her.

" I went to your tent to find you. Thought perhaps you would like some dates i had found when i stepped away for wood. " Yoka levitated as Jani'dae had, as she moved passed the fire Isolda saw it. In her hands, the head of the Orc she had killed before they met the Bramble beast. His spine hung and his bones glistened in the fire light. The flesh was all but gone, tiny pieces clung to the vertebrae and skull. "when I did't find you there i began to search the wood outside the campsite. This was nearby. What do you make of it child."

Isolda's heart skipped a beat and she stood silent at first not really sure what to say. That was her victims skull, but how was Yoka or anyone else to know for that matter. "Perhaps an iron bear or a Bramble beast took it by surprise." Isolda decided to play devils advocate and try to lay the blame on one of the predators that made the savage lands a dangerous place to be.

" I thought the same but I don't think we can be so careless as to not prepare ourselves for anything. You didn't see anything out of the ordinary while you were taking your walk did you?"

Isolda found her opportunity, she actually had seen something out of the way, the boy from the citadel he was the wild goose she meant for Yoka to hunt. "actually, there was a young mage that crossed my path, I had to shadow hop to avoid him following me but he seemed harmless enough."

"Most Northerners are anything but harmless. This was not the work of steel or stone, this was the work of magic, and dark magic at that I could smell its stink all over these bones." Yoka said a few words and blessed the bones before putting them to the fire to burn the darkness away and cleanse their camp. Orcs truly were a superstitious race of beings.

Yoka had decided that she would keep watch by the fire so long as Isolda stayed in the tent with Jani'dae. This would put Isolda alone with Jani'dae but her Bramble bird would be outside the tent, she wasn't sure how his abilities would work. It was late into the night and she wasn't vertain how many hours of dakrness she had left before the sun crept from the horizon, she was tired, sleep haunted her like a ghost from the white wood, she felt it tug at her eye lids and made her yawn.

"take some rest by your mother child. I'm sure you both could use each other tonight. I sense a struggle taking place in your heart, I do not know what your fighting with but I you do. You need to make peace with whatever it is you are battling, war, even in ones self has many casualties." Yoka had turned out to be much more intelligent than Isolda gave her credit for, she had begun to sound more like Jani'dae and the elder orcs and less like a child.

Isolda did as she was bid and went to the tent with Jani'dae preparing to take the orcs life. When she entered the tent her mother lay there still sleeping. Her eyes hadn't moved, just her chest as she took deep painful breathes. Yoka had made some tonics from herbs she had brought to help her heal what wounds she had both on the surface and internally.

Isolda laid next to the orc, her tiny body laid close against Jani'dae's, the orc was almost three times as large as a man and yet she seemed so fragile right now as if a strong breeze pushing a dry leaf could send her to her the long sleep.

Isolda laid there next to Jani'dae feeling her chest rise and wain as she struggled to keep living. "Doing her a kindness by making sure she doesn't suffer and further." Isolda pulled out a small knife from within her boot, one she kept for protection, it was sharp rippling steel with a silver embossed handle, truly exquisite orcish craftmanship, it had a sheath that allows the knife to slide perfectly into its owners boot. The knife slice through the back of the tent as if it were cutting through soft butter.

Isolda whistled in hopes it may call the bird to her from its spot in the tree above. It had heard her but decided to cock its head at her and sing. "stupid bird, i want you to take her soul." Isolda pouted for a moment and decided to be more like a queen and queens did not pout, they ordered.

"Bramble bird come here." She said in an authoritative tone, the bird dropped from its branch above and few in through the hole Isoldas blade had made. "Take this orcs soul, send her to the long sleep." The bird began to twist and grow, smoke rose from its feet as it began to change into something else.

At first she believed it was going to turn back into the larger bird it had in the woods earlier, instead it began to take an almost human shape. Smoke had swallowed its body as it swirled like a tornado around it . Isolda immediately jumped into the shadow of the long pole that give the tent its shape.

She watched the smoke swirl and fill the tent, and she watched as a figure clad in black armor wearing no helm stepped out of it. its hair was long and flowed as it by magic around his shoulders, an ever churning tide of black resting on his should guards. His eyes were red as the Bramble birds had been. His skin was fair and his lips slim, he was even more handsome than the boy had been earlier that night, His long pointed ears held many earrings encrusted in jewels, his lobes held large seafoam green opals that had a large ring holding the third of the same color.

He walked over to the shadow that Isolda had hopped into, "you bid me take this Orcs soul so she can finally take the long sleep. You understand once i take her she can never come back. No spell can retrieve her or her voice. She will belong to death and he doesn't give back a gift once its left to him." He turned and looked at Jani'dae, black tears fell from his eyes, he walked so smoothly that it seemed like he was floating, he reachedout one of his bright hands and touched her cheek, a soft glow emitted from her. " If this is your command I shall follow, this is the gift you wish to make to death then i shall wrap her soul in light and lead it to the lord Death himself."

Isolda's head had begun to get fuzzy, whether it was exhaustion or the power of the man in front of her she was not sure, but she was sure that Yoka would be back soon and all this would be ruined and Isolda most likely would have to kill her. "I do command it! take this orcs soul to Death himself as a gift from me." Isolda said it with her eyes closed, she didn't want to see Jani'dae die.

"So be it" The man reached into Jani'dae's body and pulled her soul by its hand out of her chest. She floated there, translucent and beautiful mask still covering her face. Isolda began to cry as her mother stared. "I'm sorry mother, I had to, I had no choice.." Jani'daes spectral hand went up as if to stop her from speaking any further. " I know child, I am aware of the ancient you have taken as your master. I blame myself for not helping you in time, not seeing it. I do not blame you for any of this, and in the end when you finally are cast down and this evil removed, I know you will honor all the orcs and me." Tears flowed unstoppably from Isoldas face, her sobbing became loud and soon filled the air, Yoka even noticed.

Yoka opened the tents flap to peer inside to find Isolda laying on Jani'daes chest soaking her skins with tears. "What's wrong child? Are you hurt?" Isolda looked up, wet faced and red eyed, puffy and swolle from crying. She sniffled and hiccoughed for a moment before she could choke the words out. " She's gone Yoka, Jani'dae has gone."

Yoka ran to the dead orc and placed her head on her chest as well trying to hear the rythm of her three hearts. Nothing, not even one of her hearts were beating. "Oh no, Isolda i'm so sorry, A great orc has fallen tonight." Yokas mask ran wet as tears rolled down it, Yoka grabbed Isolda and swallowed her in a four armed hug that seemed to last forever. "This trip doesn't seem worth it anymore, but i know i have to continue on just as you must." She let go of Isolda who still had tears falling but she had managed to get control of herself. "You're right Yoka, we must make it to Krakens keep. we have to for Jani'dae."