After traveling a day southwest Mateo and his expedition come across a makeshift settlement. It is mostly tents ready to be pulled from the ground at a moment’s notice to flee. Za’Rexkla raises a claw halting their advance.

  “What is it?” Mateo asks.

  “The largest tent in the center contains the most life force, so that’s where lady Tesha will be, the rest of the tents have faint life forces, those will be the hellbent, there are also faint traces of life force escaping from the soil, a trap.”

  “How can you detect their life force?” Stitches asks appearing at Mateo’s side.

  “I received a ring from a lady of Noir, she was an ivory scaled ruksha, young on the path but so was I, after a night of debauchery she granted me a ring call the Eye of Noir, it allows me to see the life forces around me, something I’m sure you have an ability for, lady Noir,” Rex says with a gentlemanly bow.

  “See Mateo, that’s how you greet a lady,” Natalia says slapping him on the back of the head before crossing her arms.

  “Hey, when have I been less than cordial with any of the women I’ve met?” Mateo questions rubbing his head.

  “Anyway, while you two bicker amongst each other like star struck lovers I shall infiltrate the camp and rend onto our enemies annihilation,” Rex says summoning his twin Onigoroshi.

  The night is calm, the leaves flutter lightly in a near absent breeze. If not for the buzzing of dragon fly like insects and blood sucking mosquito monsters, silence would settle upon the land. Rex’s chains do not clank under the control of his mana as he moves silently into the small encampment. Clouds covering the moon prevent his form from casting a shadow into the camp as he approaches a few small fires.

  The hellbent remain unaware as he casts out his chains like tendrils of death reaping their corpses of life. The first attack, however, is the only silent one.

  The tents rise into the air propelled by small flames. The fire light illuminates the camp and hellbent move in on Rex as undead claw their way through the soil from the depths below. Before a few moments pass he is surrounded by hundreds of enemies. Mateo steps forward to assist, but Stitches places her hand on his chest to halt him.

  “Don’t, you’ll only be a liability,” she states.

  Mateo backs down as Rex’s chains rise menacingly into the air.

  “Za’Rexkla, of clan Zahdria, what would you want with a maiden of Revival?” An ominous voice asks.

  A cloaked man standing at nearly nine feet steps forward and Rex activates Gozilla barely exceeding his height.

  “I didn’t come for the maiden, my friends did, I came for the sacrificial lamb,” Rex says pressing a clawed foot forward.

  “Ah, the lamb, and I suppose that would be me, and why would you want me?” The figure questions.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “It’s been a while since I had lamb, but it was tender and juicy last time I feasted on it, perhaps you will be too, Preceptor of the Father.”

  The man goes to speak again but Rex has finished his dialogue. His blades cut through the air around him as he twirls about like a… ballerina? Mateo stares awestruck at the carnage instilled by the graceful movements of the massive lizard man. Hellbent cry out in anger as they are cut to pieces by the large bipedal blender that is Za’Rexkla.

  After a few minutes the camp is reduced to an unearthed cemetery that has been hit by a tornado. Body parts lie about littering the dirt and foliage with blood and gore. Intestines and organs are strewn about, some of the severed hearts still beating. Stitches hurries down to the decimated encampment scavenging any parts that may still be of use but focusing on the still beating hearts. Mateo ignores that turning to the confrontation between Rex and the Preceptor of the Father.

  “Where is the Father!” Rex demands.

  “Within Harmony Grove lies the Circlet of Obsidian, a monument to Drako, you will find an avatar of the father there in two moonfalls, hurry now or your little lamb will escape,” the Preceptor says with a laugh as he phases out of existence.

  Mateo and his party step through the corpses as Silvia leads the way to Tesha’s cage. The door to the cage swings open as Silvia approaches, almost as if it was planned for them to reunite.

  “Tesha, are you ok?” Silvia questions embracing her.

  “Yes, I thought they were to defile me, but I endured no such plea-, I mean torture,” she says looking around at Mateo’s party.

  Mateo ignores the reunion instead joining Rex as he stares off into the distance toward Harmony Grove.

  “Where did you learn to fight like that, the decimation was almost a dance?” Mateo asks.

  “Life and death is a dance, my daughter was practiced in the Ruksha art of Shri’kla, a type of dance style, as the petals of the sakura willow fall they flow with the air dancing in the wind, a dance style that requires no footing as you are one with the wind and not terra, this is known as Shri’kla, it was her, my daughter, that suggested I incorporate this into my combat style after seeing me struggling to wield my twin Onigoroshi.”

  “So your parents named you?” Mateo pauses waiting for Rex to fill in the blank.

  “Za, as I am from the Zahdria clan, Rex, portraying a powerful oversized reptile, and Kla, which means dance in ruksha tongue.”

  Mateo struggles to hold back a snicker.

  “So, they named you giant dancing lizard?”

  Natalia appears and slaps him on the back of the head.

  “Owe Natalia.”

  “Don’t be so rude Mateo,” she scolds.

  “Yes, dancing lizard to be precise, I too found it comical when I was growing up, but as I aged the name drew recognition from many ruksha maidens and I was soon drowning in proposals for both marriage and sex,” he pauses, “there were only two maidens I found interesting, the ivory scaled maiden Cel’Sariah of the Celestinia clan, and Ver’Deskla of the Veridian clan.”

  Mateo ponders wondering if he should press the lizard man further. Surely it isn’t rude to ask about one’s past if they are a party member.

  “You’re, curious, I shall tell you but let’s set up camp,” Rex says with a toothy smile.

  Mateo and his expedition set up a small camp a mile south of the gored encampment. The howling of silver fangs lets them know that the wolves are feasting on the parts of their foes that Stitches didn’t find interesting.

  Mateo sits by a small fire away from the group where he is joined by Rex and Yetsu, the leader of the Harmony Casters. Yetsu retrieves an accoustic instrument from his inventory and smiles at the crackling fire.

  “I learned this song from a realm walker directly, not the college of bards, he was a man torn between his past beliefs and the reality of this realm, for some reason it resonates with me, but I do not understand the lyrics, perhaps it will mean something to you,” Yetsu says strumming the strings a few times.

  Hearing the strumming of an instrument the bird beastman Accipiter joins them with a small percussive instrument of his own.

  Yetsu Moria has cast: Mercy by Bad Omens.