Descent Into Birthright

by Amber-Citrine Sunset

Protecting the Weak From Themselves

Act 0, Episode 2/5: Prologue 2 of 4: Protecting the Weak From Themselves

The best action to undertake... and the Right Action to undertake... are often two completely different actions.

Two weeks later...

"Ridge Dasher! I said GET UP!"

"Yes, boss." came the tired reply.

Nervously the raw recruit struggled to his hooves and looked at his superior, a tall, fiery-colored stallion named Blazing Wheel. The stallion was humorless as always, but was fair and never did anything he didn't think his recruits couldn't do. That was why the recruits were here after all, to learn from a master so they could protect the weak and those who couldn't defend themselves.

Ridge Dasher was already beaten and battered from the rough sparring that his superior had led him through. Compared to Blazing Wheel's lack of apparent injuries, the recruit was tired and strained, and his normally fog-gray coat was stained a dark brown with mud from his muzzle to his tail. His obsidian-black mane was all over the place, and his unusual chosen weapon of expertise (the shield) lay in a corner with a huge dent in it. When he stood up he was wobbly; he was tired but he knew he had to press on. He wasn't strong, he was just fast.

"I will not. Tolerate. A warrior. Who cannot stand on their own four hooves, Ridge Dasher! I am surprised you have lived up to your name!" Blazing Wheel barked as he got directly into Ridge Dasher's face, ruby eyes sparking just a little bit. “Show me your strength! You are unworthy of wielding the shield if you have no strength!” Blazing Wheel's tone shifted from barking orders to a hint of mockery, but Ridge Dasher wasn't fazed. The drill sergeant's job was to bend the raw recruits into warriors, so he didn't flinch when Blazing Wheel got directly in front of him.

Ridge Dasher glanced at his cutie mark (a pair of running shoes over a hill; his speed was something he took great pride in) then turned his gaze back at Blazing Wheel but did not reply in his usual rapid-fire series of snarky one-liners. Those had made too much trouble for him in the past and he knew when to taunt and when not to.

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher backed back so the entire group could hear. Why his drill sargent demanded to be called "boss", he didn't know. In his opinion the word reeked of organized crime, and with his family having suffered at the hooves of such an organization, Ridge Dasher was here to put a stop to it as well as defend innocent ponies.

"Good! Now, grab your shield and prepare to block again and be prepared for my disarm attempt this time!" Blazing Wheel growled.

Ridge Dasher was training to be one of the "Unmoving", a specialized group of shield bearers that would hold fast against strong frontal attacks while archers wearing crossbow-saddles fired from behind their lines.

The earth pony stumbled just a little bit as he got his footing under him once again and then he picked up his shield in his mouth, tiredly locking his hooves into the ground. Blazing Wheel lined up for a charge, then pawed the ground once with a hoof before attacked. The rest of the recruits watched as Blazing Wheel launched himself at Ridge Dasher with blinding speed, turning on his heels just as he reached the shield in order to deliver a powerful rear kick. The blow rang in the open training grounds like a gong and the whole of Ridge Dasher visibly vibrated from the force of the blow.

“Good! Again!” Blazing Wheel commanded, and Ridge Dasher steadied himself. Rather than risk another blow that would likely knock him to his knees, if not off his hooves, when Blazing Wheel wound himself up for a second strike, he turned his head instead, drawing the shield away in a fake-out.

Ridge Dasher's intent was to have Blazing Wheel miss the shield, become off balance, and then Ridge Dasher would counter with a spin and powerful frontal shield bash to knock his superior down. His idea was dashed when he turned too much and didn't back up in time, and instead Blazing Wheel's hooves connected fully with the side of his head.

His shield went flying from his mouth as he staggered to the side and then fell over, stunned but still conscious. While he wasn't physically strong, he'd been training and his endurance combined with his personal meditation techniques kept him awake. He was seeing stars, and for a moment he closed his eyes. He wasn't down and out just yet, and his ears twitched to orient themselves on the drill sergeant's voice.

"And THAT, recruits, is why you should never turn your head for a counter until you have timed it exactly right!" Blazing Wheel yelled, walking up and down the line of recruits and looking each one in the eyes as they stood at attention. "I slowed just a little, expecting a counter when I saw him blink, then struck as he turned his head so I got a clear shot. Unless you're absolutely sure your counter will strike hard enough to make a difference, you do not counter. You stand firm and hold the line. You ARE the line. The line will NOT break. Is. That. CLEAR?!"

"YES BOSS!" The recruits yelled in unison.

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher mumbled.

"At ease, recruits. Return to the barracks while I take Ridge Dasher to the healer. I put my weight into that kick to make a point, and it would be poor of me not to make sure my warriors quickly recover from the more painful lessons." Blazing Wheel finished, quieting down. "I've been doing this for almost ten summers, and I am proud to say I haven't lost one of you yet. I'm not about to start now. DISMISSED!”

The group relaxed and dispersed back to the barracks as Blazing Wheel walked over to Ridge Dasher, now struggling to get to his hooves and recover his shield. "At ease, Ridge. You took a strong hit there. You okay?"

"Yes, bo... B.W." Ridge Dasher replied, using the informal nickname his drill sergeant had told them to use when things were quiet.

Blazing Wheel poked him with a hoof then helped him up. "Walk with me. You're still wobbly on your hooves. Leave your shield here and I'll have it returned to you soon; I don't want you hurt before your first tour. I know how much you want to be a part of the Unmoving, but it isn't for just anypony and you still lack physical strength."

"Thanks, B.W. I'll be okay." Ridge Dasher said, recovering his footing.

They began to head to the healer's. "Have you seen what those wool brains are up to?" Blazing Wheel asked.

"No, but I've heard the tales of what they can do with their mauls." Ridge Dasher replied. "Are they really planning war?"

Blazing Wheel looked down a little bit. "Commodore Triangle Star seems to think so and you know how hard it is to change his mind. I don't know what it is that the Muial'ki want, we have nothing they can't get in their own lands. Unfortunately I think the Commodore wants war, and that doesn't help anypony. I'll do my job and train recruits, but I'll never understand what the motives are for starting a war."

Ridge Dasher shrugged. "Maybe he has a personal stake. Or a vendetta."

"Damned if I know." Blazing Wheel replied. "No one's going to question somepony with the title of 'Slayer of the Dragon Trio', though."

They arrived at the healer's, an impressive lump forming on the side of Ridge Dasher's head although his pride was injured more than he was. Nudging the curtains open, the nurse glanced up at Ridge Dasher before seeing his injury and scolding him. "Ridge Dasher! Tell me you didn't taunt the sarge again!"

Ridge Dasher smiled at the nurse. Ponies like the lovable Silent Rings were why he was in this to begin with. Ponies needed defending, and he was just the stallion for the job.

"No, I turned my head wrong trying to counter." Ridge Dasher replied.

"I almost gave him a taste of the Blazing Trick instead." Blazing Wheel said, sounding a little bit guilty. "Had to stop myself at the last minute."

"Would you quit showing off the Blazing Trick? You're trying to teach, not strike them into the ground in a broken heap with their jaw shattered halfway over the horizon!" Silent Rings scolded, turning her dusky brown body away from them as she went to get healing supplies. Their base was severely short on unicorns, and those that were there were warriors like Ridge Dasher, not healers. "That's going to leave a big bruise in the morning, Ridge. Don't pick at it or itch it. I'll put some healing cream on it and want you back here first thing in the morning so I can look at it."

"Yes, nurse Silent Rings." Ridge Dasher mockingly said in a sing song voice. Both his drill sergeant and the nurse rolled their eyes.

"You know he's training to be a part of the Unmoving, right?" Blazing Wheel asked.

Silent Rings tilted her head, her puffy pale green mane getting in her face as she began to bandage up the bump after rubbing healing lotion on it. "Really? Ridge? Are you insane?"

“No more insane than anypony else. I need physical strength to go with these." Ridge Dasher proudly replied, clopping the ground with a hoof. His lower legs and hooves were more developed than the average pony's; he was a runner and messenger rather than a front line fighter. "If I'm going to be a hero someday, I need more than just swift feet and a quicker mind.”

“Those taunts are going to come back to haunt you, Ridge.” Blazing Wheel cautioned. “Not even I would risk it as long as even one opponent was conscious, Blazing Trick or no.”

"Just come back to us in one piece, sweetie." Silent Rings replied sweetly before kissing the bandage in a cute manner. Ridge Runner winced, less from the pain of the bump than from the fact he had a crush on her and everyone present knew it. She had said, tauntingly, that she was single, she knew she was attractive, and she was open to the idea of having a coltfriend... IF Ridge could survive out there. Silent Rings liked her men battle-experienced.

The curtains parted. "Ridge Dasher?" Another earth pony dressed as a higher-ranking messenger stepped in. "You've got new orders from the Commodore himself."

"I wasn't informed of this..." Blazing Wheel replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't shoot the messenger, sir." The other pony turned away from his fierce gaze. "And I quote, 'tell that bastard it's above his pay grade', unquote."

"What IS he up to!?" Blazing Wheel growled as the messenger quickly left after passing over an official-looking envelope to Ridge Dasher.

Ridge Dasher opened the envelope, going quiet as he read it. "It says here... I have to take Razor Barbs and Jumping Thunder on patrol to the east, tonight. It's an overnight patrol."

Both Blazing Wheel's and Silent Rings' eyebrows shot up so far they impacted the ceiling and left craters.

"Those two? They're complete dunces! What did you do to deserve that?!" Now Blazing Wheel was mad. "You've done nothing wrong. You are not as physically strong (yet) as some of the others in the barracks, but that is no reason for him to keep picking on you. Something's wrong here, but I know better than to sniff above my pay grade. This is beyond 'once is a prank, twice is stupidity, three times is enemy action.' I can't tell you to belay those orders though."

"It's okay, boss." Ridge Dasher stood up straight. "I'll keep 'em in line. Maybe if I do a good job to spite him, it'll get him to slip up in rage and maybe he'll expose himself and whatever the chip on his flanks is."

Blazing Wheel snorted, but a knowing smirk was beginning to form. "You do that, and bring those ponies back alive, soldier. Those two ponies are idiots, but they don't deserve to be sent out on a suicide mission."

"Yes, boss." Ridge Dasher said. "I'll go get another shield from the storeroom and we'll be off."

"Watch your injury!" Silent Rings called out after him as he left.

"I'm not going to have my recruits get hurt. I'm going to follow them. Ridge is good, but inexperienced... and the... the Ruined... roam that road..."

The curtains parted again, this time admitting a bossy-looking pony in a suit of dark leather armor emblazoned with a series of high-ranking sigils and runes. He wore a smiling jester's mask to conceal his identity, and both eyes of the ceramic mask had been painted black to hide his eyes. Flanking him were two side orders of muscle-unicorns. "You're not going anywhere."

"What is the MEANING..." Blazing Wheel began to bark in his outside voice, but the mask-wearing pony just grinned behind his mask as the two unicorns leveled crossbows at both him and Silent Rings.

"The Commodore wants a word with you." The crimson stallion said with a Cheshire-like grin that stretched beyond the two sides of the mask. "And you, nurse. You need to... disappear."

Silent Rings could only stare, caught like a deer in headlights as the two unicorns advanced on them and Blazing Wheel tensed.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

"All right, you two, we're headed out on the eastern road tonight in a night patrol." Ridge Dasher said as the portcullis closed behind them. "I want both of you on edge and ready because this is not a safe path."

"Do we have to?" Razor Barbs whined childishly as he idly scratched at his flank, where his cutie mark of a baseball bat wrapped in shiny barbed wire could be plainly seen against his chestnut-colored hide. Attached to his saddlebags was the selfsame trademark weapon. "I want to go back inside."

"He's right. There's suggestions that the Ruined patrol this road too." Jumping Thunder piped up, looking down at his hooves. The dark blue colt was cross-eyed and wielded a spear that he was remarkably good at using.

"Well, you know what I like to say, once I ignore your blatant insubordination." Ridge Dasher teased, and all three of them rolled their eyes. "Three times the reconnaissance and one time the action. If we see something, we observe it from three angles, then we return to get orders about how best to proceed. We're watchers, not berserkers."

He'd made friends with these two early on because they were a little bit “slow” and he wasn't going to let either of them come to harm; they were somewhat dull and really didn't belong here. He got the sense their parents were less than responsible ponies and had dumped them in the military in order to get rid of them.

"And if it's the Ruined?" Jumping Thunder asked.

"We run." Was Ridge Runner's reply. He shuddered as he remembered just who and what the Ruined were, and felt his mane go on end. “You know what they are. One part lack of ethics, one part lack of morality, a dash of forbidden magic... geomantical alchemy... a plea to darker powers. It's NOT pretty."

“And the blood of an innocent filly or two!” Jumping Thunder said. “That is, according to what I've heard.”

The Ruined were chimerical crossbreeds of regular ponies and animals; some would get the leaping powers of a rabbit while others would get the carnivorous fangs of a tiger. Still others would grow claws on the end of their hooves, or a stinger-like tail. With enough mixed blood, you got many mutations in one package. In all cases, the beast part was plainly evident and they were covered in huge amounts of thick, shaggy fur alongside a near-nonexistent regular mane. They took a hit to intelligence in exchange for brute strength and great size, but this did not mean they were stupid. Rather, far from it as they were extremely clever and made extensive use of flanking and ambush tactics before swarming.

They killed for sport as well as food, usually feasting on the ponies they killed. Intelligent enough to start their own societies when they eventually encountered one another, they were mostly shunned by the “civilized ponies” of Ridge Dasher's known world.

The patrol became quiet as they began walking the obstacle-stained forty mile road leading to the next village. Ridge Dasher would remain at the front, while Jumping Thunder and Razor Barbs stood to either side of him and a few paces back, watching the sides of the road. Ridge Dasher's shield was in his mouth the whole time to repel any surprise assaults from the front, while both of the others could bring their weapons to bear at a moment's notice.

The first thing they encountered did not give them high hopes for the rest of the night.

They came to the scene of a grisly attack. A caravan of ponies had been traveling from the village towards the base and appeared to have been ambushed. Not a single pony in a group of over thirty ponies had been left alive. Whatever had killed them had jaws stronger than a steel trap judging from the bite marks that had crushed pony skulls like paper.

“Whoa! What happened here?!” Razor Barbs asked, nudging a corpse with a hoof.

“I don't like this...” Jumping Thunder said, his knees buckling a little. While he was in training not to show fear, the colt always had been a coward and he looked ready to run.

Ridge Dasher straightened up, trying to mimic Blazing Wheel and bring some hope to the already-demoralized pair of “assistants” he'd been forced to babysit. “Okay, you two. Let's take this slowly and use our training. Razor Barbs, report.”

Razor Barbs blinked and straightened. “... S-sir, I see multiple dead ponies, a broken wagon, and trade goods in the back.”

Ridge Dasher nodded, examining another pony corpse who had all four legs broken as if somepony with great strength had almost ripped them out at the joints. “Good for a start... now, what about you, Jumping Thunder?”

“What he said.” Came the tense reply. Jumping Thunder was getting more and more nervous.

“And what does this tell us?” Ridge Dasher asked, now becoming all business.

Razor Barbs and Jumping Thunder looked at him cluelessly.

The gray stallion sighed, putting a hoof to his forehead. “Look around. Razor Barbs said it himself, trade goods. This wasn't a robbery. This was done for the thrill of killing. And you know what that means...”

“Bloody hell, the Ruined.” Razor Barbs growled, drawing his bat.

“We can't do anything for them.” Ridge Dasher tensely said, motioning to the bodies before turning ahead to look up the road. “Let's look around and gather as much information as we can about this caravan. If we see the Ruined before they see us, we double back and return to base because we're not equipped enough to handle them and our command will need to know we have company inbound.”

“And it ain't the in-laws?” Jumping Thunder smirked.

Ridge Dasher cracked a smile unintentionally through his forced imitation of Blazing Wheel's presence. “Quiet, you. That's my line.”

The trio slowly circled the broken wagons and various corpses, now in a slower, cautious, tighter formation so they could spread out quickly if they needed to. Jumping Thunder nervously glanced both behind him and to the sides while Razor Barbs was scowling while turning his head everywhere, pawing the ground and actively watching the shadows. He was anxious and wanted whatever was going on to happen, so he was daring something to jump out.

“Take a look at this.” Ridge Dasher said, pointing to the trade goods. “They're almost untouched and in perfect condition. The goods were not the target. Except...” He leaned in closer as he saw a large box carved of mahogany covered in bloody symbols. Judging from the condition of the bodies, the symbols were made by using the blood of those killed during this battle.

Ridge Dasher pointed out the symbols directly to Razor Barbs. “What is this? Razor Barbs, you're good at languages... can you translate for me?”

Razor Barbs walked over, bat still in his mouth. He spat it out then turned to read the symbols before turning to his superior. “These are Ruined glyphs. It's a warning to 'stay off our land' and that the goods belong to the land and therefore the Ruined living on the land.”

“So it is a Ruined's doing.” Jumping Thunder said, running a hoof down the side of the box and shuddering. The blood was still wet.

“Not 'a', Jumping Thunder. The Ruined never work alone. We've got real problems if they're this close to base.” Ridge Dasher looked back toward their base.

“We should head back.” Jumping Thunder whimpered.

Just as Ridge Dasher began to agree, they heard a rustling from the bushes and all three of them went on high alert. Ridge Dasher silently did a series of hoof-signals to the other two (even though they weren't much use in a fight) and they tensed, ready to spring in separate directions to flank whatever it was that was emerging. Then, they heard a mare's voice.

“No, Gleam... I don't know where we are, and...”

“A mare?!” Razor Barbs asked in surprise.

“Miss! You're in danger here!” Ridge Dasher called out.

Sunkissed Amber emerged from the bushes looking bruised and sore, with her armor hanging in tatters off of one side of her body after a nasty encounter with a miniature dragon that Gleam had torn to pieces. The rest of her clothes looked travel-stained and in need of more than one good wash. She was pulling Gleam out of the bushes by a leash; the dragon had sat down defiantly and was digging in his claws. He was tired and didn't want to walk any more carrying a heavy harness full of goods. Twister was in the trees watching from above, and silently mocked the dragon as Sunkissed Amber groaned and tugged at the leash. “Come on, Gleam! It's too dark and we need to find an inn, and--”

She never got to finish the sentence. From one of the trees above them, a large, hairy form leapt to the ground between Sunkissed Amber and Razor Barbs. Where he landed, the ground trembled as if a great fist had struck the ground. Gleam jumped back in surprise as Twister took off screeching, and Ridge Dasher growled, summoning up all of his courage.

Between Razor Barbs and Gleam was a pony... or what could have been a pony if he didn't have the blood of multiple animals running through his veins. Fully twice the size of any earth pony they'd ever seen, its muzzle was more bear-ish than pony, while a lion's mane decorated the area around his neck. Thick metallic dragon-like claws grew out of the creature's hooves, and one eye was gone, the wound long scarred over. Its tail was long and bristly like that of a porcupine and had been tied in several thick knots that whipped back and forth when the creature wagged it.

“Miss! Step back! It's a Ruined, and they always have fri--” Ridge Dasher cried.

The others never had a chance to react. Crossbows from the trees were fired as an ambush and everyone scattered. Jumping Thunder was killed almost immediately with a direct hit to the back of the head. Razor Barbs took a shot to a front hoof as Ridge Dasher lunged for Sunkissed Amber, tackling her and pinning her to the ground as he twisted his head to block what shots he could with his shield. With luck the rest of the shots hit the ground in front of them.

Gleam bit down on a quick-release attached to the harness's bridle, and he shook himself out of the harness as the inferior-quality crossbow bolts bounced harmlessly off his scales. With a growl he took to the air and went for the trees, snarling with his claws extended. Before any of them knew it there was a scuffle in the air and other Ruined began dropping out of the trees in surprise. Gleam ricocheted like an enraged pinball, knocking down archer after archer until most of the Ruined who were responsible were laying in heaps at the base of the trees. Some were injured, others had landed on their hooves and were moving to intercept Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber.

“They're surrounding us!” Ridge Dasher growled. He looked back the way they'd come, back toward the base, only to see a second, fresh group of Ruined approaching, each one of them a twisted reflection of the meshing between pony and animal. They were not going to escape.

Gleam exhaled a blast of red-orange flames at the approaching Ruined, arcing his head from side to side and creating a semi-circle of flames that kept them at bay. Both Ridge Danger and Sunkissed Amber backed up while those Ruined to either side of them reached for their melee weapons and prepared to strike. Twister dive bombed one occasionally, but a lucky swing with a club sent him spiraling into the skies squawking in pain.

“We need to move!” Ridge Dasher worriedly cried, offering Sunkissed Amber his hoof.

Razor Barbs suddenly got up and charged at one of the Ruined head on, swinging his bat as hard as he could. The bat connected dead on with the creature's head, but nearly shattered from the impact, breaking in half. The Ruined who had been the target only shook the impact off and snarled a predatory growl. One head-bash later and Razor Barbs was stunned, seeing stars and holding his head as he was knocked to his knees.

“But my supplies, my harness and trade goods...” Sunkissed Amber turned back to look at the harness Gleam had bitten himself loose from.

“Material goods can be replaced. Can a life? Now we run!” Ridge Dasher commanded, helping up Sunkissed Amber to her hooves and turning toward the village at the end of the road. It was still a good thirty five miles there, so they wouldn't make it this night even at a dead run, but if they ran fast enough they might be able to outpace the Ruined. For all their strength, they had very little endurance to go with it. The Ruined were used to surprise ambushes and shock-and-awe tactics, but over a long skirmish their opponents would likely win the day.

For a moment, Ridge Dasher and Razor Barbs' gazes met, and they nodded knowingly to each other knowing what had to be done. Razor Barbs would attract attention (likely at the cost of his life) to give Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber a chance to escape. Ridge Dasher hated to abandon somepony and it burned him inside to just up and leave Razor Barbs... but if he stayed, they'd be killed and that would do nopony any good. Leaving somepony to die was enough to get you kicked out of the military, but Ridge Dasher would take the fall. Given the opportunity to save lives, he was going to take it; if he paused to try and drag Razor Barbs off the rest of the Ruined would swarm, reacting to the quick movement. He knew when to fight and when to run and this was NOT a time to be fighting.

The largest of the Ruined, who'd been the original one to leap down from the trees to announce their presence, started to give chase as they backed up. As Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber ran for their lives, Gleam sniped at the Ruined with small fireballs and using his body to block (and repell) the crossbow fire of those who'd stopped to reload their crossbows. If the bolts had been of any better quality, the little dragon would have been a pincushion.

Not five hundred yards had passed before Ridge Dasher and Sunkissed Amber skidded to a stop; the damn Ruined had previously dug a huge trench across the road and had removed the boards and dirt that was hiding it, cutting off all travel. It would take too long to line up a proper leap over it before the Ruined got to them and it was too long to go around.

Behind them, they could hear Razor Barbs' screams of pain as he was surrounded, though from the sounds of battle, the recruit was giving as good as he got. If he died, he was going to take a lot of the Ruined with him.

The leader of the Ruined slowly approached, murder intent in his single eye. Gleam landed and snarled loudly, daring the creature to take one step further.

“This is it...” Ridge Dasher mumbled, with his shield firmly clasped in his mouth.

Sunkissed Amber undid the rope holding her braids straight and they flopped to the dusty ground with a thump, then she whipped her head up and then forward, sending them shooting forward in the say way a scorpion might sting. During her travels she had thickly knotted both braids at their ends, and while the impacts might not be lethal, they certainly would bruise and be painful for a time. When she swung her head forward, the knots struck the ground with audible thumps, kicking up small clouds of dust. She'd spent a lot of time back on the farm trying to invent a form of self-defense based on her braids, and she was not inexperienced.

Unimpressed by the display, the leader of the Ruined held his ground.

“We're not done yet...” Sunkissed Amber said, stiffening her hooves in resolution.

Gleam snarled again, twisting his body and lashing out with his tail toward the leader of the Ruined as the rest of the leader's group began to approach. He missed, but it was enough to cause the leader of the Ruined to back off briefly. Gleam's tail was just as thick as Sunkissed Amber's braids, and could leave bruises just as severe.

Before the leader of the Ruined could charge, Ridge Dancer caught sight of a beam of light flying through the sky above them, which he recognized as a unicorn teleport spell. Inexperienced in seeing such magic, a bright light from above filled Sunkissed Amber's vision, and when the light cleared she saw that the light had resolved itself into the shape of a unicorn wearing what seemed to be a defensive suit of wooden and brass plates, shifting on their own around her body by means of a series of clockwork gears.

“Take another step, creature... and dearie, ya gonna wish ya didn't!” The new arrival threatened, malice almost noticeably dripping from the pale white aura surrounding her.

Author's Note:

Next chapter might be a little slower to arrive. This leader of the Ruined is one of the main characters... and it's not easy writing his intro.