Raw VII Preview | Chapters I & II

CHAPTER I

It was in that moment Jak realized he had never experienced real terror.

He’d faced down horrifyingly lethal monsters and an army of karn and certain death from a dozen different ways, but the only thing that had even come close to touching how he felt right now was during his first few days, when he heard Niri scream his name in fear, calling for help.

Everything hurt. His head, his body, his limbs, everything ached and the sick feeling was lingering, but none of that mattered right now.

“Move!” Jak yelled as he raced forward towards his village.

It sounded like madness up ahead.

More screaming, more crying, more horror.

The others hurried to keep up, following in his wake through the dead forest and the snowfall.

Jak wasn’t sure at what point he transitioned over into his heightened state, but he knew that he arrived at his village in it and took everything in with an awful clarity.

It was like stepping into a nightmare.

There was blood in the air, the fresh-spilled blood of his tribemates, and something was burning that wasn’t a cooking fire. One of the nearest huts had collapsed into a heap of raw materials. People ran screaming from the…

Corrupted. He realized at once that he was seeing a corrupted being, but not like the others. This was a corruption of the magical kind, what was clearly an instant process. He felt terror rip at him once more as he felt a fresh wave of pain roll through his body.

Was the corruption now inside of him?

His bond-mates?

Jak shook that off. Right now, it didn’t matter, he couldn’t do anything about it. But he could do something about this situation in front of him, even if it was going to be brutally painful. He had somewhere to be, something to do, and several someones to save.

Energy burning within him, Jak drew and threw two knives in rapid succession, his movements smooth and fluid. Each one buried itself in the eye of a recently corrupted tribemate who were both in the process of attacking their non-corrupted brethren.

There was chaos in the village, over a dozen different small skirmishes having broken out. Jak drew his adze and moved.

He moved like a beast made for the hunt in its absolute purest form.

Everything else was slow around him, and it was easy, so worryingly easy, to run up and bring his blade down or around in a tight arc, removing tribemate after tribemate from life with a spray of blood. And that only made it worse as he did it.

Knowing he had to do this, that there was no obvious way to bring them back, knowing they would kill and kill and kill if he didn’t kill them, didn’t help ease the agony.

His adze tore into a man’s neck, a hunter who had joined fairly recently. His name was Ket. His eyes were full of black light and his face was smeared with blood. He went down to join the dead in the dirt and Jak moved on.

He pushed himself faster and harder, knowing that every instant he had not completed this task was another instant that someone could, and likely would, die. And he moved ever forward through the huts towards his cave, hunting desperately for his lovers.

Every person he came to, every face he saw, he feared the worst.

But finally, as he saved another tribemate from a pair of corrupted closing in on her, Jak hurried out between two huts that would finally put him in view of his own cave, and there he saw Rylee. She was healing someone and Niri was standing over her, a bone blade in each hand, looking pained but fierce.

“Jak!” she cried.

The relief he felt was immense. They were still alive, still fighting.

His relief didn’t last long as he heard a shout come from behind him. Turning back around, he saw that the fire from earlier had grown.

“Jak, what is happening!?” Niri yelled.

“I don’t know!” he called back. “Keep guarding Rylee!”

“All right!”

She’d hardly gotten her response out before he was off and running again, his ability still burning so brightly in him, forcing him to action. He dodged in among the huts, his absolute need to help his tribemates burning as furious in his head as the power that thundered within him. Jak dodged between two huts and saw a small group of people had coalesced near the fire, trying to handle the situation.

Some were helping the wounded, some were trying to put out the fire, some were standing guard against further corrupted.

There weren’t enough.

“Get the wounded to my cave!” he snapped, appearing beside them. “Sena!” he yelled, staring at the fire. “Here! Now!”

Jak had no idea if she was here, he only knew that he had no obvious way to deal with the fire. It had spread to three huts now and looked to be getting worse. He sensed movement to his left and saw Sena running towards him through the falling snow.

“Can you deal with the fire?” he asked.

“I...I think so,” she replied, studying it uncertainly.

“Try! I have to–”

He reacted on pure instinct, barely registering the sound of heavy paws beating the ground in rapid approach. Twisting to his right, he saw a wolf, eyes full of darkness, frothing at the mouth, coming right towards him.

It leaped into the air, jaws open wide.

Jak snapped forward, driving his fist into the corrupted wolf’s mouth without thinking about it. His fist parted the top of the wolf’s head from the rest of it, sending it flying through the air. He jerked forward in the next instant, hitting the wolf’s corpse with his shoulder and deflecting it away from Sena.

It hit the ground and rolled a few times, twitching occasionally as blood burst out of its ruined head.

More were coming out of the forest, dark, low shapes advancing on him through the snowfall.

“Deal with the fire!” he snapped, and ran forward.

This was getting worse faster than he could deal with it.

No. He could handle it.

He’d handled worse.

Probably.

Jak moved, settling into the flow of combat as four wolves advanced on him with a sinister grace absent from the other corrupted. What were the rules with these? Were they the same? Were they even corrupted?

It didn’t matter. They were a threat.

They needed to end.

He hurled his short spear in a single motion, didn’t even watch it punch through the skull of the nearest wolf, simply knew that it would in the heat of the moment. He was already drawing another thin bone knife and throwing it overhand at the eye of the next wolf. It collapsed, twitching violently, as Jak fell upon the others with his adze.

They were dead in a matter of a few short, hard chops.

But even as the blood was landing around him, darkening the snow that had fallen and gathered, he saw more wolves emerging from the treeline. And there were other creatures behind them. He saw a giant spider, a few uncertain human or elven shapes, and at least two blade-toothed tigers. All of them with glowing dark eyes.

Something was wrong.

They were moving with too much purpose, too coordinated.

“Jak! I can’t stop the fire!” Sena yelled.

He glanced back briefly over his shoulder and saw the fire was spreading further, despite Sena’s efforts. Several of his tribemates were backing away from the flames, looking around anxiously. It was falling apart like dry earth in his grasp.

Something whirled through the air out of the village to his left, sailed past him, and wrapped around the legs of a wolf, tripping it up. Almost at the same moment, a spear came flying through the falling snow and punched through the skull of one of the blade-toothed tigers.

Nessa, Keeza, and Zora appeared, jogging forward to join him.

“Nessa! Zora! I need you to get with Rylee and Niri and get everyone out of here!” he said. Then he raised his voice, calling to the village. “Take the wounded and get to the North Outpost as fast as you can!”

“I’m not leaving you here!” Nessa snapped immediately.

“Nessa, I need you to do this.” He tossed a quick, impatient glance at the corrupted creatures encroaching on them. They were getting closer. “I’ll stay here and hold them off. It has to be you leading them, Nessa, you’re the greatest warrior in the tribe after me.”

She stared at him, her chest and face splashed with blood from the fighting and sprinkled with ash from the growing fire.

“You had better be there, fast,” she said finally.

“I will, please make sure you get everyone out. Check the caves!”

“I’m on it, come on, Zora.”

The two women immediately began passing out instructions to those in the nearby area, organizing them with the speed that came from a well-managed village and competent leadership. Nessa fell quickly into her element, pointing and snapping out orders.

Their tribemates moved hastily to follow, grateful for a clear goal.

He didn’t know if the North Outpost was safe, but it was the second safest location, and it was farther from the Barrens.

Of course, he realized, in a sudden wave of fresh horror, that he had no idea how far this...spell? Whatever it was, how far it had reached.

“What about me?” Keeza asked, stepping up to his side.

“You owe us nothing,” Jak replied, eyeing the corrupted.

He hurled another bone knife and dropped one of the corrupted humans, someone he tried not to recognize in that moment.

“Oh yes, let me just go back to my cave in all this!” Keeza snapped.

She picked up a nearby spear and threw it with amazing accuracy, punching it right through the skull of another corrupted man.

“If you’re willing to help, then I’ll take it. Help me kill them! Buy my people time!”

And then he was off, a club in one hand, the adze in the other.

More corrupted were spilling from the forest.

How many were there?!

He ignored the question as soon as he posed it, knowing that it didn’t really matter. He would fight on for as long as he had to.

And he did, moving among the corrupted with a weapon in each hand, striking with blows and attacks that killed in an instant. Even freshly made corrupted couldn’t stand against him, at least not one on one.

Time passed, blood flowed, the village burned.

Jak’s own body was burning up already from using his ability so soon after the last time. He knew the only reason he wasn’t suffering a lot more was because he’d managed to get at least some rest in between then and now.

This couldn’t go on forever, though.

He felt his hope returning to him, though, as he saw his people moving with purpose. And Keeza. She was a warrior in her own right, and as he watched her tear through half a dozen new corrupted wolves, he suddenly wondered about his assessment of Nessa being second only to him.

Well, that was a thought he’d keep firmly to himself.

He kept going, arms swinging back and forth, delivering devastating blows with the hardened club and lethal chops with the adze, cleaving through flesh and bone like water. He put his great strength and speed to use, and Keeza did hers, and they killed and slaughtered and murdered.

And still the corrupted came out of the forest.

Enough time had to have passed. He no longer heard the voices of the others. He no longer heard anything but the roar of the fire and the awful sounds of the ever-advancing corrupted.

“Keeza!” he shouted, yanking his adze free of another skull. “We have to go! Follow me!”

“Go!” she replied, disengaging and running towards him.

He turned and ran into the burning village, moving clear of the fire that had taken over half a dozen huts now, and tried not to feel the rage and horror that was building steadily in him. The rage and horror that grew worse with each body he stepped over.

This was their home. They’d spent over a season building it, living in it, making it theirs.

And now they were forced out by impossible circumstances.

They got around the burning huts and came to the cave entrances.

Jak pointed to a section of the rock between the two entrances. “Climb!”

“What are you doing?” Keeza replied.

“I need to make sure everyone got out!”

“Jak, let me help you,” she said after an instant’s hesitation.

“No, just get out of here and get to the North Outpost,” he replied. “I know you know where it is.”

She sighed. “I’ll climb, but I’m waiting for you up there.”

“Fine. Go. Hurry,” he replied.

Jak hurried first into his own cave, still burning through that energy. He couldn’t drop out of his heightened state until he was clear of the village and somewhere relatively safe. Having Keeza around would help with that. She could watch out for him while he got his bearings back.

He looked around his cave and found that no one remained. He took a moment to snatch up a new batch of throwing knives, a trio of short spears, and a fresh waterskin. Looking around, he could see that the women had already grabbed whatever important things they could.

His eyes caught on Niri’s nearest painting.

He felt his whole body shudder with rage but pushed it away yet again. No time, never any time to feel, only to do.

He raced back outside and into the communal cave. Running all the way to the back of the tunnel, he checked the spaces where people might be hiding. Nothing in the back chambers, but he could see a lot of packed away food and supplies. He hoped it survived the fires, but there was nothing to be done for it now.

Running back into the central sleeping area, he looked around and his heart skipped a beat as he saw a lone figure laying near the center of the room. He hurried over, already seeing that they were still breathing, and dropped into a crouch.

“Ezzi…” he muttered, seeing she’d taken a blow to the head.

She’d probably wandered in here during the fighting, fleeing or maybe trying to grab something important, and passed out from the wound.

Scooping the slim elf up, he hurried back outside.

The corrupted were among the village now, and...they were keeping their distance from the flames. They were definitely smarter, a lot smarter.

And they looked right at him as he emerged, roared, and began coming for him.

A rock fell from above, hitting the nearest creature, another wolf, cracking its skull.

“Jak! Come on!” Keeza snapped.

It wasn’t easy, but he managed to clamber up the rock face one-armed. The other arm held Ezzi securely, slung over one shoulder.

Keeza took her as he neared the top.

“Come on,” Jak said, “we have to get somewhere safe and rest a moment.”

“Fine,” Keeza replied, “lead the way.”

They hurried off into the frigid darkness, snow still falling in huge, silent flakes around them, oblivious to everything that had just transpired.

CHAPTER II

“Okay here, stop here,” Jak said as they came to a small cave that had a shelter of trees before its entrance.

Keeza laid Ezzi carefully out and drew a weapon, looking back the way they’d come.

“I need a moment,” Jak said, and dropped out of his state.

A hundred hurts slammed into him at once and he grunted, falling to one knee, grimacing at the pain that had been held back by his power. He’d taken a few hits during all that conflict and some of the blood on him was his own.

“What’s wrong?” Keeza asked.

“Need a minute,” he managed. “Dropping out of my...powerful state...weakens me.”

“What is that? How do you move so fast? We never discussed that properly,” she said.

He shook his head. “Not completely sure. I just know how to do it. It’s something my people can do. It’s...very complicated. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Fine,” she murmured. “Can you teach me?”

“No,” he said. “Now give me a moment to catch my breath.”

Silence fell again and they both shivered in the cold. They wore somewhat heavier wraps but he knew he would need new clothes. They had been making better clothing. Heavier, and wraps for his feet as well, to protect them from the frozen ground, and right about now he desperately wanted them. The cold was brutal.

He checked Ezzi again, then winced at her head wound. She was breathing fairly regularly, but she was still bleeding. He worked quickly to clean the wound and then pressed a small amount of healing plants that had been blended together and mashed into a paste into the wound, then licked a small leave and laid it over the wound, sealing it.

Rylee had taught him much in their time together.

Rylee…

Had they all made it to the outpost? How many of his people were now dead or lost out there in the darkness?

“What is happening?” Keeza whispered suddenly, her voice harsh. “I have never seen anything like that...and I feel bad. Sick. It’s passing, but I haven’t known a magic to do that.”

“I have no idea,” Jak replied. “Could it be your people? Your former people?”

“It’s possible, I suppose. I have no idea what kind of magical talents they have developed in my absence, or even when I was still around. They didn’t share much with me. But I feel like I would have heard something about...whatever this is.”

“Maybe it’s something in the Barrens,” Jak murmured. “Some side effect of the dark death magic initially used. Something that has been growing for seasons, like water pressing against blockage. Finally, the blockage gave way.”

“Perhaps...what about your ally? Azure?”

“What about her?”

“I don’t trust her. I never have. She’s extremely powerful. She knows magic none of us do. And she has those powerful crystals. Could she have done this?”

“No,” Jak replied.

“Are you sure? You’re very trusting,” Keeza replied, almost apologetically.

“You’re too mistrusting,” Jak said. “I trust her, all right? There’s no way she did this.”

Keeza didn’t look satisfied in the pale moonlight, but didn’t argue.

“We’ve rested long enough,” he said, getting to his feet and scooping Ezzi back up.

Nothing had apparently followed them, but the forest was not still or silent around them. More corrupted things lurked in the shadows.

“What are we going to do?” Keeza asked after a long moment of hurried walking.

“Regroup,” Jak replied, his mind racing. “I need to make sure the outpost is secure, and then I need to send runners to the other outposts, to Fair Field, to Crush Bone. We have no idea how far reaching this magic might be. But I imagine Fair Field probably is still intact…”

He was forgetting something.

He knew he was forgetting something extremely crucial, something somehow relevant to the situation, but what?

It was important, life or death important, and he couldn’t for the life of him grasp what it was.

It would come to him, he knew it would.

Jak grit his teeth as he hurried on.

It was going to be an extremely busy night.

…

Relief flooded Jak as he heard the sounds of people talking.

No one was screaming, though some people were crying and moaning in pain.

But the North Outpost, the initial one he’d founded, was still there. Still up, not on fire, harboring many of his lost tribe.

He and Keeza were stopped, and nearly attacked, by the men standing guard, but their relief was obvious.

“Tribemaster! You are alive,” one of them said.

“Was there a doubt?” Jak replied, standing up straighter now.

It was always important that the tribemaster seem strong, even when he did not feel strong. Especially then. And now it would be more important than ever. He had no doubt that every single person in his tribe was shaken badly by what had just happened.

How many of them had just lost friends, family, loved ones?

How many had been forced to kill them?

But there was still too much to do to think of that.

“No, tribemaster. No doubt,” the guard replied with a tired smile.

“Where are the wounded being tended to?”

“In the center of the outpost, by the fire,” he replied.

Jak nodded, thanked him, and he and Keeza moved past them. He took a measure of the outpost as he moved through it. It was packed beyond capacity, people standing or sitting around, mostly just staring into the darkness, either in fear or in a blank trance.

He carried Ezzi towards the sounds of the pained moans and found the area around the central cooking fire filled with the wounded. Rylee and several others were moving among them, tending to them as best they could.

Jak felt a great relief at the sight of six other magic-users moving among the wounded, using magic to heal the worst of the wounds. He had gone to great lengths to recruit them and have Rylee train them in the ways of healing magic.

It was paying off now.

Many who would have died in the night would now live to see another sunrise.

“Jak!”

He saw Niri hurrying towards him and immediately worried at how slowly she was moving.

“Need you, Rylee! Now!” Jak said as he crouched and carefully set Ezzi back down on the ground.

She was still unconscious.

He stood as Rylee and Niri approached and hugged Niri tightly against him. She was trembling, and he doubted it was from the cold.

“Are you okay?” he asked, unable to ask anything else in that moment. “Are you both okay?”

“I’m fine,” Rylee said.

“I’m all right...I just feel sick. I feel really sick,” Niri replied. “I’m so tired…”

She looked dead on her feet and as he looked down at her in his arms, he felt his fear continuing to swell.

“You need to sleep,” he murmured. “To rest. You have to, Niri.”

“I…” she paused, yawned, blinked slowly. “I need you here,” she whispered.

“I know, but we all have things we need to be doing right now-Niri?!”

She had passed out in his arms. He immediately scooped her up, holding her.

“Rylee!”

She was already there, stepping closer. She raised one eyelid and looked at her eye, then put her finger to her wrist, then held her hand in front of Niri’s mouth.

“She is okay, Jak,” Rylee said, breathing a sigh of relief. “She was just overwhelmed. This was all too much for her.”

“I need a place for her to sleep safely,” he said.

“Jak. I’ll take her.”

He looked over and saw Nessa and Zora approaching and for a moment almost wept with joy and relief. They were all here, all together, all safe.

Relatively speaking.

Whatever it was that had happened, whatever great catastrophe had befallen them all, they had all come through the other side alive and intact. Whatever guilt he felt about his relief over his own bond-mates’ health as compared to the rest of his tribe, or however many other dead or dying lay across the lower half of the island, was washed away by the sheer comfort he felt from their presence.

“Careful with her,” he murmured as he passed her to Nessa.

“I will,” Nessa replied quietly as she took the pregnant elf. “I’ll make sure she gets a place to sleep soundly, even if I have to use my leg for a pillow.” She paused. “What happened, Jak? What will we do about this?”

“I don’t know what happened,” he replied, “but I need to make some decisions.”

“What will we do?” Rylee asked.

He looked over and saw that she was now crouched over Ezzi, healing her head wound with the use of magic. How much was she using? How much had she? Would she have enough to help everyone, even with the new followers?

Rylee had come a long way since they’d first met, her magical abilities and reserves having grown tremendously, but she looked tired. Of course, she’d been suddenly thrust into a fight for her life at the end of the day.

Jak cleared his throat. “Runners! Any runner who is able and willing to run, here, now!” He looked around at the others. “We’re going to make some things happen, and quickly.”

It took a moment, but he ended up with five runners. Fewer than he had hoped, but this was what he had to work with right now.

“All right, listen up. You two, I want you to double up and watch each other’s backs. Go to the East Outpost and tell everyone there to grab what they can and come here as fast as is safely possible. Then run on to the karn outpost by the coast and tell them the same thing. Anyone you find out there, send them here. Take what you need and go now.”

“Yes, tribemaster,” they both said, and disappeared into the shifting crowd.

Jak turned to the others and pointed at each in turn. “You, run to the West Outpost, tell them the same: to gather what they can and get themselves here as fast as they can. You, go to Crush Bone and determine the situation there. If it looks bad, ask Ripper…” he paused, “or whoever is in charge to bring their people here. Ask. If the situation is as bad there, the karn are likely to be pissed off and in more of a fighting than a talking mood, but we need their help and they need ours.

“The two of you go to Sarn’s Rest and update them on the situation. Tell them to begin preparing for people to come to them if it looks like they’re secure. If not, tell them to come here. From there, you go to Ara Forest and update the elves on what’s happening, then get me information back here on their state of things. You, go to Fair Field and do the same. If they look secure, tell them to prepare for more people to come in. See if they can get runners to the mountain village, Wetstone, and Gather, and have them get everyone and everything they can back to Fair Field. Go.”

When the runners were gone, he turned to look at the others. Nessa had found a place for Niri and since returned, and Rylee had finished with Ezzi, though she was still unconscious.

This next part was going to be difficult.

As he prepared to speak, that same thought came back to him: that he was missing something crucial.

What?

He ran through the outposts in his head quickly. All that was left was the South Outpost, Breaker’s outpost, and he was going there himself.

Was there any other place in the forest he should be going to–

“Oh,” he muttered as it came crashing down on him.

He had definitely missed something, and it was amazing that he had for this long, given the specificity of the situation in relation to what he had been told not that long ago.

“What?” Nessa asked.

“I have something I need to deal with.” He frowned intensely, looking around at them, then prepared himself for this next part. “Listen: we’re going to need to split up for now. You know I love you all, but right now the tribe needs us. I don’t know how bad this is, but it’s already very, very bad. Nessa, you are in charge here. Zora, you are going to help her. You two need to hold this outpost no matter what. Gather what you can and heal the wounded. Be prepared to move everyone in a hurry.”

“I understand,” Nessa said, her face grim. “I’ll take care of our people. But what are you doing?”

“I need to go back into the forest. Keeza, Rylee, I need you to come with me,” he said.

“I’m ready,” Rylee replied.

“Why Rylee?” Nessa asked uncertainly. “We could really use her here.”

“I know, it’s an emergency. I need a healer, a magical healer, and she’s the best.”

“But why?” Nessa pressed.

Jak looked around uncertainly, then leaned in, lowering his voice. “The nymphs,” he said. “They’re hiding, sleeping for the cold days, it’s what they do. But Dawn warned me that if something big and bad happened, if the corruption reached their nesting spot, for example, or something else happened, I had to come to them with a healer, or they would likely die in their sleep.”

“Oh no,” Zora murmured.

“I have to save them,” he said. “We need them. And they need our help. Rylee, Keeza, grab what you need. Rylee, get some warmer wraps. Do it as fast as you can and then wait for me by the southern boarder of the outpost.”

They both nodded and headed off into the crowded collection of huts.

He looked at Nessa now. “I know you can do this,” he said. “I’ll come back as soon as I’ve helped the nymphs and visited Breaker’s outpost. Tell Niri…”

“She’ll understand, Jak. Don’t worry. I will make sure she is safe,” Nessa replied. She hugged him tightly. “I love you. Be safe out there.”

“I love you too, Nessa. I will, and you be safe here. This is bad, but we’ll figure it out.”

She nodded as she released him. “What of Talon? The valt? Hearthstone Village?” she asked.

“We can’t spread ourselves too thin right now,” Jak said. “They’re in good hands. Each has a good, strong leadership. I will get to them, but for now...we have to see to ourselves. We have to get out of the forest.”

“What’s our final goal?” she asked.

“I’m not sure yet, I need to find out the status of the other villages.” He laughed bitterly. “I spent so much effort getting everyone off that mountain, but it’d be a great place to go now. But for now, I think either Wetstone or Fair Field will be our best chance for gathering and surviving. Make sure the people know that is our goal for now. It’s important we have a plan, but it’s just as important that they believe we have a plan.”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve seen panic before, and it consumes groups, fragments them.” She looked around, frowning. “Right now mostly what’s keeping us all together is their belief that you will fix this, somehow.”

He sighed softly. “I don’t even know what this is. I still don’t know what happened…” He looked down at Ezzi, who was still unconscious. Rylee had placed a deerskin over her and pillowed her head on another folded up skin. “Protect her, Nessa. She is a priority. Right now, she is likely our best expert on death magic and regardless of what this was or what happens, we still need a way to counteract the Barrens, and she is our best bet.”

“I will protect her as well,” Nessa replied. “Do you think this was the Barrens? Or the embyr? Or something else entirely?”

He sighed. “I have no idea, but...I remember...someone, it might have been Talon, telling me how when the Transgression happened, people were sick afterward for weeks, all over the island.” He looked around at the crowd, hearing a lot of moaning and coughing. “I feel sick, but it’s fading. You?”

“Yeah, I feel it, too.” Something seemed to occur to her and she looked around suddenly. “But the magic-users don’t seem sick.”

“No...and I don’t think I saw any turning into corrupted,” Jak murmured. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“Good for us right now, at least. All right, I have to go now.”

“Good luck out there,” she said.

He nodded and kissed her quickly. “To you, too.”

Jak made hastily for the southern boundary of the outpost.