The Champion's Companion Ch. 05

In the enclave, Ailli was lighting torches, and Caris was cooking, they both fell back covering their blinded eyes for a moment.

The vision the band had now, was the infravision that most nocturnal hunters have, and the natural light amplification that nocturnal creatures have. To top it all off they had the focus of a hawk. So now, suddenly, their eyesight could rival a dragon. They were also compelled to kill any enemies they saw.

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Convincing Marcos they were well prepared, the trio started off after quickly eating. They went ahead a carried their packs since there would be no reason to return. Marcos complained the pace hadn't changed but knew that they were travel significantly faster than many mortals could sustain.

They stopped as the sun came up and got off the trail to a high ledge. To the West they could see the end of the mountains and the forested frontier that was Menthino's northwestern border.

Marcos told them in time they could train themselves not to sleep or eat anymore. He also told stories of vampires, high order demons, a mage, wizards, and sorceresses he'd met. None of these people Marcos remembered had any redeeming qualities about them.

Kaarthen and Vellina quickly noticed a reoccurring theme, these people went quite insane eventually and brought forth mind-boggling destruction. They both wondered if these were his friends.

Marcos told them a unique secret when they tried to understand how the world as they knew it could be destroyed so many times, and how familiar exactly was he with these people.

"This isn't the only world. There are many more then there are gods. They are claimed and fought over like bickering wives. In this world, there is only our Dark Mother, as the only god she is given huge powers and abilities that usually are not available. She can directly control Fate, the weather, and the flow of power and energies below our feet."

"So who are you in this picture?" Vellina asked.

"Well should another god come to this world, and they do from time to time, she loses most of those powers and has to share others. The world manages the weather and the earth energies itself, and I become her anchor here. When more then one god is about, they feed off and empower their champions. As the champion interacts, actions fuel its aspect. Eventually, priests are found to gather more followers, all this fuels the aspect even more and the god gets more power. Gods can't be killed but their followers and champion can. If weakened for long enough by the rejection of its aspect or not having a champion for a while they'll become 'Minor' and they won't even be able to leave the world on their own. They'll be come like a ghost or spirit drawing people's actions toward their aspect in small groups or individually and feeding off the energy. When that happens shit is so stacked against them they would be lucky to be banished and indeed they actively search for a way off the world."

"When has this happened before?" Vellina asked. Kaarthen already knew it all and more like what the gods were really after, and what they did when people weren't around.

"Actually, it was quite common but usually indecisive. Then several cycles ago about twenty thousand years ago, Minun lost his other worlds and became 'Minor' they then stopped trying to claim this world." Marcos continued.

"Wow that's along time! Wait, where you alive back then? What's a cycle?" Kaarthen asked. Now she wanted to participate just so it would hurry this up.

"Cycles have three parts. A thousand year building period where humans spread and are kept relatively safe, the progress made dictates the next phase. The second, where humans continue development, on average it's 5000 years. If humans are more progressed, they get less time. For example, countries have invented unbelievable things and gotten off our world into the stars, but then they were only given 1500 years. Eventually it ends and in one or two hundred years, everything is whipped away in a chaotic manner ironically fitting to the cycle. Then it starts all over, the same yet different, building anew to an overlooked destructive end built into its foundation. I myself am about 67,000 years old and I'm not even the first champion our Goddess had."

"Maybe I should start at the beginning." Marcos began.

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Kassin had an excellent hunt. The elves had walked into her single file. The first two died from the same slash to the neck. She went on to kill the third one as he tried to block her feinted thrust. Of the last two, one ran away the other armed himself with two short double-edged daggers. He backed himself into a crevice and shouted what she assumed were elven curses and taunts. She toyed with him until he was tired. She purposely only hit him in the underarms and shoulders.

In defeat, he dropped his head. His arms were completely useless by now and dangled limply. She left and tracked the last one but the sun had just come up so rather than kill him she severed one leg at the knee and left him in a puddle of blood and urine as he struggled with a strap to stop the blood.

She returned to her new slave. It was a short four-foot tall mountain elf. It had a under bite, and warts, thin white hair, and it looked like a pale goblin.

She binded him by the legs, slung him over a shoulder, and started home whistling a noiseless tune.