Bonded Summoner

As they went through the forest, Jake saw that there were hundreds of corpses on the ground, of many beasts and avian beastkin. He could see how sorrowful Tanda was seeing them all, and Bloodberri looked downhearted. There was simply no way she could resurrect all of these people, and Jake was overwhelmed at how many had died.

The party eventually arrived near a clearing at the top of a hill, and Jake could tell that an epic battle had taken place. Shreds of wood from trees being shattered were everywhere, blood was all over the grass. Corpses lined the ground, and Jake saw the head of a massive werewolf, and a set of legs not far from it.

As they entered the clearing, a massive stag covered in plants came out from behind a tree. Jake could feel the massive amount of vigor and life coming from it, as well as a calming effect. He felt something special coming from the creature, reminding him of divinity. It was the force of nature and abundance, the power of life.

The creature gave a small bow to Jake’s party, and his party returned it. It smiled, surprising Jake.

Tanda said, “I don’t think he’s there right now, but Cernunnos used this creature, almost like a Champion, but different. He called this his beast avatar.”

Jake nodded. From what he understood, gods and goddesses had all sorts of ways that they could use their divinity. Small amounts of themselves could be used to make paladins and priestesses or their many equivalents.

They could also break off fundamental aspects of their being and a little more energy, and create beings such as the one in front of Jake.

A Champion was a little more than a being that had much more of that energy. They had a much larger piece, or spark, than most of the others. As far as Jake understood it, as each of these pieces were raised in tier or taken efforts to grow it, the entity would become closer to the god, carrying more and more divine energy.

A higher tier priestess through growing the small spark given to them could in fact channel calling their god like Jake does now, but likely at Tier 3 or so, depending.

The god or goddesses’ divinity could also be used to create and seed a world with a race– often, many gods or goddesses within the same pantheon would mix them, to have a more varied one. Hestia by herself could create a race of fire people, that matched her nature.

They would be predisposed to worshiping her, resonating better with her than standard humans ever could. The cost was significant for a single god or goddess, however. Most likely, the beastkin were originally created using this method: by several members of the Celtic pantheon.

But losses on other worlds led to the Celtic pantheon being targeted, and Cernunnos significantly weakened. There was even betrayal by some members, and he had nearly been killed for good, them sending the black dragon to finish the job before this world could join the Framework, it appeared. Jake knew that likely many of their Gods or Goddesses were killed.

This world that was likely to be their bastion of safety, of the most devout beings, but they ended up being changed and cursed. The beastkin no longer precisely resonated with them, but of course, they were still close.

The stag made a strange bleating sound, and many beasts appeared, coming out of hiding. There were the heroic beasts that aided Tanda in her victory, and what Jake thought were younger, or not as strong versions of them. The mood was somber, however, and he wondered what was going on.

There were other creatures as well, but they did not approach, just watching from their near hiding positions. As if to witness what was about to happen.

Tanda was perplexed as well, but Bloodberri looked sad. He listened to their thoughts, and learned that she had an idea what was going on. Jake wasn’t sure he liked it.

The four younger beasts walked in front of Jake, and then kneeled down in front of him. All four of them were covered in plants and vines, like they were one with nature. They all had auril running through them, matching their heroic beasts. A stag, boar, hound, and lion, all of which were male.

The heroic stag had a flash of intelligence run through its eyes, and Cernunnos smiled with his too big flat teeth. “This was the best reward we could give you, my friend. That you rightfully deserve, for saving me, for saving us. Balance must be restored between us–These children might die, but they die to go on protecting this world and many others, for all time. This is a sacrifice they are willing to make, to protect this world, to protect the balance, forever.”

Jake frowned. He was about to argue that he didn’t save them, that Tanda did. But he could feel what Cernunnos meant. That he was thankful for everything Jake had done for the beastkin, and even Tanda herself was saved by him calling the goddess originally.

That without every single effort him and his wives had made on Highlands, they would have already lost a fundamental aspect of themselves. If Jake had arrived and fought, and killed the Dreadbeast Champion, then Tanda may have never connected with him, and he’d have instead faded away.

Jake wasn’t sure how all this was conveyed, but he knew in his mind and in his heart that this was the truth. The girls all joined him in their understanding.

He also didn’t like the implications of what Cernunnos said. That Jake was taking their place as the eternal protector of the world. However, he realized that with the conquest progress and ownership, that this was more or less already the case. Jake reached out with his staff towards the hound, and the creature did not so much as move in response, kneeling with its face down as it was.

Jake willed himself to cast the spell, [Capture Template], but his hands filled with sweat, his hands shaking. He found that he couldn’t do it. That he was killing something that was sacrificing itself to him, so full of life and intelligence… It felt like slaying a family’s dog for a meal if you were starving. Except, Jake wasn’t so sure he needed these creatures, beasts as they were; he wasn’t yet starving.

Cernunnos laughed. “You truly are a gentle soul. These creatures are not just dying today: They are also being reborn! This is not some platitude that I am feeding you, this is the truth. How could it be a reward or gift, unless it was somehow different? You could just capture any of these creatures anytime if that were the case. Many of them exist across Highlands. No, you will find that these creatures are not the same as your usual ones, despite using [Capture Template] to obtain them. You could think of them like beast paladins or druids. Or, if you’re talking about Tartarus, a Boss-level monster.”

Jake sighed. He willed himself to capture the hound once more, and managed to cast the spell. There was no resistance from the creature at all, and the light quickly formed them into cubic lights. When the spell completed, Jake did feel that it was somehow different; that more was captured than usual. Ira perked up, and he thought that it could somehow sense where it was within him that their souls were going.

Cernunnos smiled once more. “You can feel it, can’t you? These are not sacrificial lambs, these are warriors and protectors! They will continue to protect, forevermore! Just which protector of the land, wouldn’t choose to be able to protect it forever? To protect their children, their children’s children, and so on, helping them thrive forevermore.”

Jake continued, capturing the remaining three. Jake’s girls were sad, as even though it appeared these creatures would live on in some way, he was still taking them away from their homes for his purposes.

“It is done! We four do thank you, Jake. We look forward to your story as it unfolds. I can’t say much, but you know the heart is important. If you lose it, even if you win the conquest, the world will be as good as destroyed. Take care of her, will you?”

Jake frowned. “Her?”

Tanda laughed. “The heart of the world is Cernunnos and Brigid’s daughter! We’ll do our best to protect her.”

Jake asked, “She got a name?”

Cernunnos shook his head. “A nascent divinity, she is to decide on her own name. She is young yet, and hasn’t. She can watch out for herself somewhat with us to protect her, but do take care to look out for her. You also can’t keep that cave blocked forever. She needs to breathe into the nearby lands eventually! Take care, Clan Hart.”

Cernunnos left the stag, and it along with the remaining heroic beasts went back into hiding.

Tanda looked down at the corpses sadly. “Berri, could you resurrect my clan mother? Aisling really changed the tide of the battle.”

Berri said, “Sure! I’ll get started. Let me know who else to resurrect.”

She cast the spell on a crow woman, who, in spite of being dead, had an expression of laughter on her face, even though she was nearly carved in half. Just what kind of person…?

She raised up as she was bathed in Berri’s holy light, her body being healed in the process.

She stood, and her eyes started looking around, them still open when she died. Aisling saw Tanda and Bloodberri right away.

“Clan-daughter! I knew you’d make it. Oh! Aren’t you a large one? I’m Aisling! Thank you for your help, miss?”

Berri beamed. “You’re welcome! I’m Berri Hart, Champion of Echidna!”

Aisling frowned. “Champion? But I thought?”

Aisling looked at Jake, then smiled, before she took on a face of anger. “That’s right! You!”

Jake was confused. “What?”

Aisling fluttered through the air towards him, with her eyes narrowed, a finger in his face. “Don’t you dare go after my clan daughter, mister. A man that goes after a bird in another nest is not good enough for our Tanda, champion or not! There are plenty of birds in the sky, why would you go after one that’s mated?”

Jake was now extra confused, and he looked at Tanda. “I… Don’t think I did?”

Tanda got in the way of Aisling in Jake’s defense. “It’s not like that, Clan-mother! When I said 3, 4 mates kinda, I was talking about her! There are two girls in there.” Tanda pointed at Bloodberri.

Aisling looked skeptical. “Uh huh. Anyway, sorry about that, Champion Jake! You know, I hadn’t realized you’d be more handsome in person.”

She stepped closer to Jake, and sort of hung off his armored arm, pulling it into her chest, which Jake resisted. “Oh, so strong, too.”

Tanda looked exasperated. “Why are you flirting now? You’re the very same mated woman you just complained about!”

AIsling inspected her nails with a smile. “What happens during your mated husband's afterlife, stays in his afterlife.”

Tanda scoffed at her, and Aisling detached herself from Jake.

“I was just joking, clan-daughter! I just wanted to see how this guy that had you so interested would react.”

Tanda growled and swiped at her, but she fluttered away.

She looked between Tanda and Jake, and her smile grew wide. “Oh! Don’t tell me he already sang to you? Oh, that’s just wonderful!” She frowned in thought, as she looked at the many dead nearby. “Uh, when’d you have time for that?”

Jake coughed. “We didn’t do that yet. We’re doing that tonight.”

“Oh, I do hope that works out!” Aisling looked over to Ophelia. “Wow, you’re such a pretty one too! Why, you’re almost like one of us.”

Ophelia smiled. “Thanks, Aisling. We still have some work to do, but I’d love to talk more later. We have more to resurrect and to gather the dead, it appears.”

When Jake and Ophelia activated the looting ability on the deceased, it would return them to the void of the framework. Supposedly, this reduced the resurrection timer from the default. Even with their conquest progress much lower, it should be under a week before these people would be alive once again, spawned at either the nearest Node or Alliance HQ.

There simply wasn’t enough time for Bloodberri to resurrect everyone. Even with Jake feeding her mana, she could only resurrect people once every five minutes or so. It had been a couple of hours since some of these people died already, so the amount of people she could resurrect was quite limited.

They conversed a bit while they worked, returning the corpses. They looted the auril creatures and beasts, filling up many storage bracelets, to the point where Jake ran out, but Tanda was able to send a scout to purchase more from the Node.

No enemies were found nearby, and they spent hours working through resurrecting beastkin and retrieving their bodies. There were some people that hadn’t initiated Jake found, but Tanda requested that they stay dead. They had rallied in their defense, and wanted to return to the world when they died, not becoming a part of the Framework.

After Jake and Ophelia felt recovered, the two of them headed towards where there was likely a rift underground. Jake sent Ira in, and he learned that the underground caves had been blocked and collapsed off, likely as soon as or even before the rift was closed.

Ira felt various evil energies, and after probing back and forth with questions, Jake realized that there were likely sacrifices made in order to open the rift. Both where it was, but potentially to summon or somehow empower the enemy Champion.

Jake even learned that much of the underground caverns had been filled with water, in addition to branching off in numerous directions. It was nearly impossible for Jake to follow them, and his time was limited here. He needed to take back the Alliance HQ as soon as possible.

He was worried about what is potentially evil reptile beastkin converting others, but it could take him and Ira days to potentially find their trail. They could split up with Fhesiah searching, but Ira warned him off on this.

The initial large cave that held the rift wasn’t the only one that was closed off to hide their trails, or filled with water. They could even create an ambush, or have traps where any cavern they followed through might collapse on them.

They were very close to being ready for their assault once they returned via a portal. Jake would just have to leave Tartarus to its machinations in this area for now. He was sure, if they had enough resources to make a significant difference for the time being, that they would have used them here. They only needed a slightly stronger push, and they would have won, after all.

Jake would have to rely on the warriors of Harmony Peaks to defend the area. Many of them were planning on joining Hearthtribe, now that Tanda convinced them to join the Framework in truth.

Jake and Ophelia returned to the battlefield, as Bloodberri was finishing up resurrecting the clan heads pointed out, and a few of their other better warriors. Jake let Tanda know his concerns about the underground caverns, with Aisling standing nearby.

Aisling interrupted his concerns, “Don’t worry about a thing, Jake! I’ll make sure to send warning if anything bad is going to happen. We’ll also pull more of the flock from nearby towns and villages. With your weaponry and the flock becoming stronger thanks to your mate’s pills, it’ll only be a few weeks before we wouldn’t even need your help against that champion to send him packing!”

Tanda asked, “Can you tell me what happened with the reptile beastkin that you met, Jake?”

“A rift spawned where one shouldn’t, over to the southwest of the target Alliance HQ. So we went to investigate and clear it while we were near, and we ran into them. It could be that there are many more underground tribes out there. Apparently, there are underground caverns running throughout the continent, as they claimed to be able to travel that way. Their tribe had actually combined several others over the years.”

“That… I see. Now Jake, and this is important…were any of them tainted? Their auril blackened by their hatred and greed?”

“There were two. But Ophelia was able to purge the taint entirely from one, with the flames of the goddess. The other, their taint was reduced. If I had to guess, she purged the portion of the curse, but some hatred and greed, resentment, stayed on their heart and soul. The tribe seemed to think that a small amount of taint could disappear in time, thanks to the rest being cleansed. In addition, she joined the Framework, so I don’t believe she can betray her people any longer. Still, this is a concern. That there might be a tainted tribe out there, that might side with Tartarus. And that these nearby were some of them, and they’ll be looking for more.”

Tanda sighed, but then she sounded a little excited, “She was able to purge the taint? That…is very special. I wonder if she could work against the curse on the heart? Well, we blocked it off for now, and while we were worried about that blob getting inside or the enemy champion, it would have actually taken them hours to get to the bottom. Now might just not be the best time. Purging the taint from one person is probably very different from the entire world.”

Ophelia nodded. “I did have to push a large portion of my mana just for one person, so affecting an entire world is probably quite challenging. We can head down there any time later. Perhaps after we take the Alliance HQ, we can explore that.”

Tanda continued the previous topic. “The potential for enemy tribes is one thing to worry about, but I am glad we have some additional allies for now. They will really fight alongside us?”

“That’s their dearest wish, other than serving their Goddess that has returned as foretold. We sort of tricked them into treating Fhesiah as one, kinda? They worship dragons, and she’s a dragon.”

Tanda looked worried. “I… Really don’t like that, Jake. They did some heinous acts under the name of their gods the last time.”

Ophelia added, “That was their ancestors, though, Tanda. These people are different, they understand what they did was wrong. It appears that they still believe in their gods and would strive to serve them should they appear, however, so we had to try to take advantage of that.”

Tanda looked sad. “I know that, but…”

Jake continued, “They have a much more benevolent goddess to serve this time, and the Framework is going to prevent there from being real trouble. I think if we didn’t introduce ourselves this way, they’d have stayed in their cave, waiting for the dragons to return, or even attacked us. On their wall were two murals, or foretelling, they called it. One where they fight alongside dragons to kill the other beastkin, and one where they fight alongside the above ground beastkin and 2 dragons against an unseen threat.”

“I suppose if I had to pick one…”

Jake smiled. “At least this way, they can be pointed towards doing some good, and rejoining their brethren. I think we may have luck converting any of the other underground tribes, too. While I don’t think this tribe here was very large, the one near Kenwodi, was. They will be recruiting at a much more rapid pace.”

Tanda looked hopeful. “I suppose that is good news. It makes some sense that the underground tribe near my flock here were quite small. We would have long since noticed if the balance was being disturbed to feed many underground here. These people were likely strategically placed just for this purpose, and suffered or struggled because of it.”

Jake grinned. “Besides, I get the feeling that if it isn’t in serving their gods, these people are kind of lazy. That place reminded me of a college dorm after a party, I could smell all the alcohol and sex there.”

“A college is… a place of learning? Why would that be one where people commit acts of hedonism?”

“I’ll explain later sometime. So, the plan is for us to gather our forces within the next three days for our assault on the Alliance HQ. We’ll have Rookard’s wolf pack, your flock, and the reptile beastkin. You’ll be the first ravenwolf to meet chieftain to chieftain among the beastkin and theirs in a thousand years.”

Tanda looked a little excited. “I will gather the elite among my flock. I’m really looking forward to taking back the HQ. The conquest progress has been on an upward trend these past few days already.”

They finished the resurrections and sending people back into the void of the framework late into the night, and Bloodberri looked tired as Jake landed in her backpack. Despite being tired, she was happy to finally have him back in his place. They began to head towards Harmony Peaks, where they would either stay for the night or portal back to their Refuge. Aisling had already headed home a while back, and it was just Jake’s party.

Tanda said to her, “Thank you so much, Bloodberri. My people really appreciate your effort.”

Berri said, “Oh, no problem, Tanda! I really like that moment where they wake up. They are always so confused, it’s cute!”

Blood said, “I have to stop her from scaring them sometimes. Though, I wonder if I could say they are in the afterlife, and I am their new goddess? Or maybe that I will grant them 3 wishes, just to see what they would say?”

Jake frowned. “Since when are you wanting to play pranks on others, Blood?”

Blood smiled. “I’ve warmed up to it. But it was just a funny thought I had. I don’t think I’ll ever be acting on it, like a certain someone might. Why, that behavior is not very fitting of a champion, or someone who’s old enough to be a great-grandmother.”

Fhesiah couldn’t help but respond over their bond, [Hey now, that’s not fair! I’ve been working my tail off over here too, you know!]

Tanda laughed as she flew through the air, following along with Ophelia. “I take it that great-grandmother is the dragon woman, somehow? Clan Hart is an interesting clan! You all seem to have quite a bit of fun together.”

Ophelia nodded. “We really do. When we’re not fighting or training, we often play a lot together back at the refuge.”

Tanda frowned. “Refuge? What’s that?”

Ophelia laughed. “It’s our home. We can reach it from anywhere, with the portal. It’s kind of like our own magic castle, that we can get to from anywhere? We have training rooms, a shrine to Hestia, a large lake, our crafting rooms, everything we need. We should show it to you!”

Tanda perked up. “Oh, a shrine! That all sounds amazing. I require visiting a shrine before I become an auril hero.”

Ophelia asked, “What did you require that for? We have one to Hestia… I suppose we could make another, cheaply enough? What do you think, Jake?”

“I think it’d be fine, right? For Cernunnos?”

“For Brigid. I need to become her Druid.”

Blood added, “It looks like that requires a ritual. It seems similar to what Berri went through to become a priestess of Hestia. Paladins give their oath, and Priestesses take vows to worship. For Druids, it looks like they do vows, but they sing and dance, as well. I would much like to see this.”

Berri added, “Me too! Oh, Tanda has such a good singing voice, and I did enjoy your dance!”

[I will definitely have to see this. I’m in the lab now, but I will want to join! ]

Tanda said, “I think Ophelia and you have excellent singing voices too, Berri.”

Jake said, “You can visit our refuge, Tanda. It’s pretty late, though, are you going to stay the night? We can do our songs, and you can do your ritual to Brigid.”

“I… Will think about staying overnight. I can always go back through the portal? I have to start flying back to Kenwodi with my flock, or heading towards the HQ to meet for the assault as soon as possible, no?”

Jake nodded. “This is true, but a few hours later wouldn’t hurt. The energy density in our refuge should be quite high. It should help you recuperate quite a bit for your flight.”

Ophelia added. “Oh, it should be a lot of fun! I’m glad that you might be joining us! What movie should we watch, Jake?”

Jake chuckled. “It’d be her first, so we have to start her off slow. Maybe we should start her off with one we’ve already seen?”

“Balloon movie!”

Ophelia said, “That might be a little too confusing for her. The one where the young man retrieves the star for his beloved is a much better one to start!”

Blood added, “I’m not a big fan of it, but there is supposed to be a lot of song and dance in that one with the talking snowman and the ice princess. It might be a good start for her to get used to humans and movies.”

Jake knew she was right, but was a little concerned about there being a new movie that was watched over and over in his house.