As my physical illness has cleared, so too has my mood. I have found myself feeling light and almost happy. A most unusual state. I believe it to be this reason that I began to draw nearer to my companion Carnation. We easily fell into conversation, speaking of nothing in particular, talking about this and that, laughing without reservation at some mischievous jokes. It was... enjoyable. I saw Ren glancing our way with some curiosity and it made me remember something I had not thought on for some time. Once we were not the T.I.P. Six months ago we were strangers to each other, banded together only by our enrollment in a summer campaign. Once, it was just me, Carnation, Ren and Carmine, walking out into the unknown, under the name of the H.A.G.

"What, exactly, does H.A.G. stand for? Heavily Armed Group?", Carmine asked, perplexed.
"Uhhh, yes. Now, stop asking about it and get on with it", Sergeant Preston waved us away with his good arm.
Oddly enough, we are named after the very thing that will eventually take Carmine's life, though that is information we do not know at the time. We looked at each other with some unease, this "special detail" seeming more like a punishment. We are to head into the Grimweld forest to gain information from a mystic about the hags who are terrorizing the neighboring areas, and perhaps find what party is behind these attacks. It seemed like an impossible task. 

The morning came and we set to it. The treetops formed a thick canopy that obscured the light and trapped all the heat and moisture, creating a thick, swirling fog around us. Creatures chittered in the trees, obscured by the fog, only their beady eyes visible as they reflected the dank light. Carnation, just "bird girl" at the time, looked very perturbed by all of this. There was no room to fly and she descended screeching when a giant, hairy spider (as large as a pup) lighted upon her. None of us were enjoying this experience. Worse still, the place seemed cursed. We began to see cracks in the ground with a sickly green fluid running through. All vegetation seemed to be decaying and corrupted. 

It was not long before we came upon a disturbing scene. A massive bear lay still, with a low breath still emanating from it. Oily, black tumors covered its body. Dead rangers were ripped apart around it. Ren took to severing its head with two massive chops. We decided to take a sample of the wriggling parasites within its body, since we were sent to bring back information. As bird girl stuck a delicate talon in to pry one out, it wrapped around her leg fiercely and began to suck away at her flesh. I burnt it off and put in it a preserving jar of Griffin Grease, while she looked at us despondently and said something quietly that sounded like "I miss the spiders". Ren pleaded with me to burn it, which I began to do slowly and methodically. It smelt ungodly.

A living Ranger appeared, though he looked to be in a bad way. I went to place a blanket around his shoulders, the best I would offer him, and he suddenly burst open to reveal some massive parasite puppeting him from within. I still shiver thinking of it. Even though it was a squishy thing, it was damn resilient, and it finally took an enraged Ren ripping it in half to put the thing down. We all noticed with disgust that the fluids from these things left some black marks on our skin that would not rub off. We carried on regardless, though we were all quite disturbed.

Soon we came upon a place somewhat untouched by the corruption. We had found our mystic, though he was nothing like I expected. "Todd" was an odd, lanky man, without much sight or sanity, yet he demonstrated his power when he healed our black marks using various elements. Dirt rubbed mine away, smoke dissipated the bird's marks, Ren washed herself with the mystic's backwash and Carmine bravely stuck his arms into the fire. He gloated as he spoke of the last group of Rangers who came by... "They weren't the chosen ones. I told them they'd get eaten by a bear, but they didn't listen to me. They called me a stupid, old man. Who are the stupid ones now??". He told us a crazy story about us being the ones destined to take down the demon of this forest, a force named "Kai" who corrupts all around him. I will admit, I was not invested in pursuing our path further until I heard of the demon. Demons are valueless, purposeless dross that only seek to destroy and rend the world around them. Should they be encountered, they should be exterminated like the pests they are. I agreed that we should find and slay Kai before returning back. We camped and rested, though I remember Ren had a wild look in her eye when we woke in the morning. 

As we trekked our way deeper into the forest, the blight wholly consumed the forest all around us. We walked into a living nightmare. Tortured druids were crucified on the trees, tongues nailed to posts along the path. A voice called out to us, a young woman's it sounded like. Throwing away all caution, Ren called out to her and soon we found the girl. Eyes gone, chained to a stone in the middle of a stone ring. Gruesome. We cautiously went to her aid. Ren was all concern and only had eyes for his girl as he found out her name, Taja, and asked about what circumstances had brought her here. As Carmine and Ren pulled off her collar, we thought to leave soon after... but bird girl looked and me and very seriously mouthed the word "Bait" so that Ren could not hear. I have never been more proud of her in that moment.

We convinced Ren it was not safe to travel during the night, so we stayed the night and waited. I settled against the shadow of a stone while the bird lighted from stone to stone, eyes watchful and scanning the trees. Ren never left Taja's side. Ren suddenly began making quite the noise, yelling out to us that something was trying to speak to him and turn him against us. Though the voice spoke the truth, Ren stayed true to us. To this day, I still hope she never learns of our deception.

Laughs echoes in the air and a figure suddenly appeared next to us. Kai! He flickered in a way that made him hard to pinpoint. It seemed there was always three of him dancing around us. He immediately sliced Taja's throat, which sent Ren into a wild rage that was awesome to behold. I stabilized the girl and watched as Ren set upon the figure. I realized quickly that we were fighting nothing but a man, a man with demon powers true, but a man nonetheless. As if to challenge this, he summoned tendrils of corruption from the ground that wildly lashed out at us. Bird and I fought against these, though Ren seemed only more enraged by this and struck a terrible blow to the demon man  - striking through all three of his figures and wiping the smirk from his face. The rest of us continued to fight against tentacles and parasites while Ren doggedly followed her prey. 

At this time, even though I was fighting for my life, a puzzle was working at my mind. The elements were important somehow. Bird girl seemed to be using air currents to pinpoint the demon man, and Carmine's grip on the parasite beast was becoming fiery, making the beast smolder and struggle. I impulsively threw some dirt, which did not hit the man but instead lighted upon Taja. Colour immediately infused her cheeks and she awakened, seemingly healed by the flecks of earth that had fallen onto her body. Ren became a fluid force, moving quick like a water current out of the ways of the demon man's blows. The unsettled the man and he tried to run, but Ren showed no mercy as she jumped up to meet him and chop him into pieces. He whispered some last ominous, unheard message to Ren, then died without fanfare. Further inspection revealed him to have strange, demonic surgery scars and a shiny liver that the bird claimed immediately. Our Sergeant was thoroughly impressed with our efforts, but more importantly, I believe the first bonds of kinship were formed that day.

I look at Ren and Carnation and give them a knowing smile. We have fought bears, parasites, men claiming to be demons and survived. Perhaps Kai will catch up with us one day but we will meet him with metal, talon and flame. 

Narcel'Uss Tanorthal