Winter mornings were not always the easiest time to be working in northern Helsparth. The temperatures were often below freezing and the cloud cover never let for the best light. Lieutenant Gertrude Behrend was not shy to this. She was a tall woman and stood nearly a head taller than other women, and often a finger or two over men. With nearly snow white skin, it was clear Gertrude was from the north. Her black hair was tied up in a tight disciplined looking bun. She wore the thick wool skirt of the Helsparth Air Division. On her chest was a thick wool padded gambeson fitted with a heavy hooded cloak the winged Arial sigil of the Helsparth Air division visible on the front and he back. To her hip was strapped a round shield, about a forearm's length in diameter. Her features were sharp and hard looking. She wasn't a pretty woman but she was an impressive one. With a frame that was not distinct from the back, she looked like a scrawny, long-haired, man. It was her sharp green eyes, more proof of her Northern Helsparthii heritage, that made her so impressive. They were riddled with experience and a calm confidence rooted in pride of their ancestry. Against her dark browns, black, and burgundies those green eyes stood right out.

The yard of the fort was nearly empty, the local equine folk tended to wake later, and most of them weren't soldiers; they were work hands. She commanded the fort and had fifty ineku--raven-folk--and fifty bat-folk here. Her two direct subordinates were also humans whom had made themselves quite well known down south battling the vile Loch-Schiran as they assaulted their cargo ships. It was unusual for three commanding officers to be of the same species. Often times Gertrude found it detrimental to the morale of their workers and soldiers.

Slowly, she made her way across the dirt paths towards the stables. Here there were three Lithe-Wings. They were reptilian flying creatures, called wyverns by some cultures, Lithe-wings by the sane. There was nothing mythical or draconic about Lithe-wings, and they certainly weren't snake like as the foreign word implied. They were more bird like and stood on two strong legs with large leather wings. Their scaled bodies were warm-blooded and resilient to most weather conditions in Helsparth.

She approached her lithe-wing, "Tach! Tach! Liebling get up!" she said loud and commanding.

The large animal rose and spread its wings out. Black membranes clashed with the white pearly scales of the lizard-like creature. It let out some chattering noises as it turned its head to its master and waited for its next command.

Gertrude opened a trap door in the floor where they had dug out a preserving chamber and fetched some venison and tossed it up to the animal. She smiled as it deftly caught the meat and promptly moved it near its long talons to shred it into more manageable pieces. While it ate, she moved up next to it and fetched a stiff brush and began to make sure there was not dead scales or soot build up on Liebling; such negligence can lead to illness for the animal. Once it had finished eating she knelt down with a file and sharpened its claws some.

At one point, this animal refused to let anyone work on it, but with time and patience it had gotten rather used to such treatment. That and clearly it enjoyed the ease of which sharpened claws allowed it to eat.

"Good morning Gertrude!" a pleasant small voice said.

She looked around for a moment and eventually over the stall wall to see a small rat-folk male. "Andres! Good morning to you too. An early start for you?" she asked.

The little rat-folk seemed rather calm as it took care of the Lithewing in the stall next to Gertrude. "Indeed, Ensign Schmidt is due to take the evening patrol with half of his wing," the grey rat said diligently.

"Och! Indeed. He does not take the best care of Maus. I'll be going for a morning flight. 'Get off your ass and watch your animal,' you will tell him ya?" she said with a chuckle.

"I'll be more then glad Lieutenant," he said in his softer southern accent.

"If gripe he does give you, tell me," she added to that as she fetched one of her saddles.

Liebling seemed more than happy to be saddled up at this point; the animal had learned to associate it with morning exercise, and a midday hunt! Gertrude argued that they were much more intelligent than those large land mammals the dirty lizard-folk rode. A few moments more and all the leather straps were fastened and inspected.

Once the saddle was on, she fetched her side sword, a cut and thrust blade used in case she was dismounted, and her long halberd which fit into a ring strap system on the saddle to keep it out of the way. "Tschuess!" she said to Andres.

"Have a careful flight Lieutenant!" he replied.

The rush as the animal darted out of the stalls and onto the long strip where it had the ability to move as fast as it could, then weightlessness. Shortly thereafter the snow-covered fields and leafless trees filled her side as she got higher and higher. An immense feeling of freedom and exhilaration that never faded with age or experience filled her. This was the reason she strived for an officer's position in the Helsparthii Military.

She circled around to go over the fort once more, it was time for the wake-up call. The small fortress only had one spire as a lookout and simple stone walls circling the few buildings within. One hundred soldiers, in the barracks, about fifty onsite workers, and of course the officers that lived in the main fort structure. To the south about a quarter mile was a town made from the hardwood in the area; well-built reinforced palisades offered it protection should an attack from the north get through the fort.

And there was Gertrude as she swept down low over the fort, only a dozen feet off the ground as she pulled a large brass horn out and started to blow the morning wake up note.  Three long notes approximately two seconds each, each group of notes spaced with a ten second pause as she blew the notes again. As the people started to stir she edged Liebling upward and put the horn away to head north along the road that lead toward the fairy-lands.

No one flew as fast or as bold as Gertrude, though there were claims some of the southern officers did, they never braved the cold winters to test, and often spent their summers in Helsparth City pandering to the generals.

The road would go on for miles, and she always did a long flight, and often crossed into the Fairy-Lands. This wasn't as bad as people would assume. In fact, the population there could speak Helsparthii, albeit muddled and mushy sounding. Still no sign of the flesh-eating fairies she had heard about though.

The trees got more white and ashy in color and then every green faded to grey. The strange phenomenon the locals referred to as the Blight. Her people call it the ghost-forest, the northerners were strange.

It always seemed to get darker as she flew onward, almost like it was the late afternoon, the effect went away if she flew up high enough but, after dozens of trips up here she knew it was harmless and likely magical in nature. As she flew on, the hilly land broke out into a large flat area that followed along a river. The grass was now grey like the leaves and the ferns and underbrush were blood red in color. She was well within the ghost-wood now and was only a few minutes now before she touched down to have a chat, and likely a couple of drinks, with the odd foreigners.

She could see the friendly masked folk wave to her as she landed, and they eagerly approached her. Their own language was odd, flowing, and long winded. Not a word of it ever made sense. While some of the smaller countries around Helsparth had some words that were similar, even the loch-schiran shared some words with Helsparthii but, this was alien. Either way, the horse folk could all speak the odd mushy Helsparthii, a bit archaic but it was understandable. Most of the masked people could speak it as well, if awkwardly with an odd accent.

A short male approached her. He wore a long fur lined skirt, though there wasn't a stitch mark on it, a waist length mantle, and a rather terrifying looking mask. The solid black eyes were only blemished by his white diamond pupils. With the hood covering his head it wouldn't be obvious what his hair or ears even looked like.

"Good morning!" she said to the man.

"Tiverelani dalva," the kind male said from behind the bone mask.

That she knew basically that meant ‘good morning’ by this point. When it had been explained to her that it specifically meant ‘good morning to one whom is just arriving’ she tried to piece together how the words worked, but gave up.

"Tolkka, good to see you it is," she said to the man whom was a little shorter than her.

"Indeed," he said with a nod then proceeded to ask, "What brings you to the blight this morning?"

"To make sure safe are the northern roads! Since far your patrols go," she said with a coy expression.

These people didn't like it known that they patrolled close to the fort as they liked to keep out of sight rather than be an impressive show. They had more than once help keep highwaymen off the village she protected so, it was worth being friendly with them.

"Indeed," he said slowly from behind the hellish looking bone mask.

The man said some more things in his flowery language and more people gathered to help stable her animal. She never did see them once ride an animal such as Liebling but, they seemed more than able to handle her as far as getting her taken care of. Then he made a motion for her to follow. When in another's country, it was best to follow their rules rather than make your own.

"I am here to see if Eilna and Rathar are still interested in-"

"Rathar was killed last night by a band of bandits," Tolkka said to her.

That came as quite a shock, she had seen his people fight before, unless the correct weapon was used, their skin resisted cuts, they could simply ignore distance, and they were just all around sharp as they claim to live in such dangerous conditions. Granted she had never been able to verify that last one.

"Dead? It must have taken seven ban-"

"Indeed he has joined the good mother. Eilna is not too upset, even if Rathar was his last living family," Tolkka explained

Gertrude nodded and didn't know exactly what that meant. She knew that Eilna and Rathar were twins and what Tolkka would call hibigo. It meant something like ‘half-corrupted.’ While mostly accepted, they weren't treated the same as the others, which were called nabigo.

"Eilna, Gertrude is here to speak with you," Tolkka said as he approached a leather and bone yurt.

Gertrude had to always note in her mind that there was never a stitch or seam in their leather or cloth workings. She had seen them seemingly melt the materials down with magic but, it wasn't the kind of magic she was used to; it just sort of happened.

"Ohh, send her in!" Eilna said in his polite voice.

Gertrude offered a nod to Tolkka and entered the yurt and paused as she noted that Eilna was wearing a much more intricately designed mask then before. It was likely made from his brother's bones, she had learned they did that not too long ago. It made her frown though; as the thought didn't sit well, the dead should be honored in a pyre.

The kind eyes looked back at her through the mask though they were filled with anguish and hope. It was strange to see and she was a bit taken back by it. "I still want to learn to fly your Lithe-Wing; and I still wish to learn of your people. More importantly I wish to bring my healing south, and hopefully learn your healing," he said as he seemed to be grabbing his things and making them vanish.

Eilna was a strange creature, the same species as his brethren though he had a long white furred tail that came out from his skirt. He also had feather like antenna coming from his crown and a set of very lovely pastel moth wings, they were ash, grey, and lavender. He was more like the fairies describe but she doubted he would hurt someone even if they were in the middle of torturing him.

"Running you aren't fr-"she was cut off.

"No, yesterday the plan was for both of us, today it is just me," he said to stop her ignorant speech.

Gertrude didn't know how to take that statement. There was a lot to learn about Eilna and his people. There was no anger or resentment, very little anguish or sadness; just hope in his voice. It was something she had to respect even if she didn't understand it. While rather cowardly in their methods, they seldom killed anyone even if they were terrible bandits, their minds were strong. Though she'd have to ask why he was so quick to answer, it's as if he's been getting those kinds of questions all day.

"Can we leave soon? I wish to see more," Eilna said

"Ohh… Of course," she said not wanting to be rude.

There was a small part of her that cursed his desire to leave so quickly, his people made the best whiskey.

"Remember here you will be able to return whenever. It is your attitude and healing it is in your music my people will take an interest," she said proudly.

There was something to be said to be foolish enough to brave the fairy-lands and end up discovering a friendly productive people, even if they weren't advanced enough to use stone masonry, their metal working was great. That and she had seen them recover some very serious injuries without the use of magic! That was simply unheard of, with that they also seemed to complain less about the pain.

Her eyes fell on his actions as he suddenly made the yurt they were in disappear into thin air, again with magic she couldn't see or detect.

"Och, a useful skill. The limits for that are indefinite?" she asked

"No. I'm near my limit," he said clearly not thinking much of it.

"Ah… Learn to do that I should," she stated as she put an arm around the shorter man.

He wasn't too much shorter, and she still had never seen his face, just his black and white eyes, they were very like Tolkka's but, his pupils were at a slightly different angle. It was the creature under the clothing and mask that had her intrigued; she hadn't seen his face, or any of his people's faces yet. Those wings were interesting too, he couldn't fly, she had inquired about that in the past. He could hover a few inches off the ground, and it let him traverse the surface of water without breaking it, but nothing more than that.

"I'm not sure it can be taught, it's something we learn like we learn to walk," Eilna said as he got rather closer to her.

The yurt was entirely gone! Had she gone into that much thought to have not noticed him doing that?

"C'mon let's go! I'm sure Leibling will be happy to see me," he said in an energetic voice.

Sometimes Gertrude didn't know whether to be bewildered or impressed with these creatures. Either way she nodded and lead him on. "Not sure of my people's reactions am I. At times, a bit xenophobic they can be. Too many superstitions their minds hold," she added.

It was obvious Eilna wasn't really listening that much. The man was much more interested in her lithewing than potential issues in working with foreign--to him--people. His energy was admirable though; the excitement he had for this change in his life was refreshing. If only her own people could be so energized about their future work.

"Good morning Liebling," he said to her lithewing.

The creature stirred and flicked its long black tongue out into the air for a moment and determined that Eilna was not food and likely poisonous.

                Gertrude instead addressed the stable hands and smiled to them, "Always so attentive, but… early today will I leave," she said and offered them both some silver Bars. The currency Bar was short for a Baron; named after the warlord who founded Helsparth. While the currency held little to no value to these people, Gertrude knew the metal did. It was odd but they seemed to value it more than gold or steel. The explanation wasn't translated very well and was something about meat going bad less quickly if silver needles were used in wound care.

                "Tach, tach!" Gertrude said.

                The beast rose and obediently got itself prepared to move. Though it kept a wary eye on Eilna, as he was still a bit of a stranger.

                Gertrude hopped up then reached out to give a hand to Eilna.

"Up," she said and pulled him into the saddle just behind her. It had enough room for two. It was a good thing she was female and Eilna seemed to weigh only a little too. Though She figured Liebling wouldn't be able to fly very fast like this.

Moments later they were up in the air and on their way back. The sun was a bit higher in the sky now and the cloud cover had grown a bit thicker. This made the trees in the area look even more ghostly and pale in color. The red ferns and ground cover looked almost black. What a strange land the blight was.

As they flew, Gertrude couldn't help but to notice the tight and nervous grip from Eilna. She couldn't turn her head much but she said, "Worry not. Fall you will not," to attempt to stifle his nerve. A few thoughts of how unlikely it was for a fall like this to even injure Eilna ran through her head.

Her companion was rather quiet, when she peaked over her shoulder to see if he was okay, the sight of him watching over the trees and road with wonderment in his eyes told her the story she needed to know. It wasn't likely that he'd really ever get a chance to become a Lithe-Wing Rider like herself. The animals were expensive to buy, and equally as expensive to care for. Thoughts of herself at his age though made her wonder if he would eventually, though if he proved to be a good doctor citizenship could be sponsored for sure. If proved to be an extremely valuable asset to Helsparth, he could probably end up with a lithewing for fast transport to where he was needed. With those thoughts, she concluded Eilna had a long road ahead of him.

"Bandits," he said suddenly.

This broke her concentration and she looked down to see a small group of the white furred wolves that occasionally gave this road trouble. Three? Not really work mentioning but, she'd make a report about it when she got back in.

"Noted. If not they shoot arrows at us, engage them we do not," she said sternly.

"I suspected as much, that's a very small group," Eilna said in his odd way

Gertrude urged Liebling to fly a little faster despite the extra load. The flight was going to take a bit longer so the sights of the forest were really all she had to entertain herself with, as speaking was not her strong suit; never was and never will be. The extra speed seemed to have made Eliana little nervous as he had adjusted himself and gripped onto her a little tighter. Slow was the flight back, she couldn't push Liebling much harder than this. And if need be, she might need her mount to have extra energy later.

It was high noon and she had pushed Leibling to land fast. This jostled Eilna a great deal but the fort was under attack by a large bandit raid. She shouted, "Stand tall," loudly and with a power befitting to her position as a lieutenant. Then she looked to Elina, "Safe you must be," then she drew her arming sword to assess the damage on the grounds.

There were probably thirty or forty bandits left. A few of her soldiers were injured and down, it was hard to tell if they would survive or not, but it was apparent they were still moving.  Most of the raiders her gotten into their own sorties at this point, disorganized and would be the end of them. Quickly she drew her side sword and got her shield ready as she looked around for an opponent. To her abject horror, she saw Eilna immediately approach one of her wounded soldier near two bandits.

They were tall, one female, the other male. It was clear they lacked military training, but they had felled her soldier that had been fending them off a moment ago with a bit of luck. They were at least smart enough to know how to parry and hold their own swords. Their eyes had fallen on Eilna who seemed more concerned with investigating her soldiers.

"Idiot," she muttered as she dashed over to fend these two off.

As she got within striking range, the sound of the battle had quieted some, more of her soldiers had begun to end their little quarrels. During a surprise raid, once her men were organized, they became lethally efficient; it sounded like it had reached that point.

Her shield moved to catch and redirect the female wolf's blade, her sword swung efficiently and directly into the wolf's wrist. Normally a longsword was a fearsome thing to be fighting. This woman clearly had no idea how to do the more deceptive cuts. The blow to her wrist had also made it hard for her to maneuver. The follow up stroke with the shield's edge struck the woman right in the spot between her eyes. Promptly, she fell to the ground just in time for Gertrude to casually parry the other wolf's attempt to decapitate her with an over telegraphed swing. She knocked the sword away from his swing direction which forced the wolf off balance, then in a step she ran the man through the chest.

It was a lucky thing to end up fighting to inexperienced swordsman. The sounds of a wolf howl rang through the camp and she turned to see what that signal meant. The few remaining wolves all fled at once, a strong grey haired wolf with wise eyes met hers as they fled. A male she'd need to be weary of, clearly not a fool; she wondered how much they expected to get. A damage report would tell her later.

"You will be alright," Eilna said with no fear in his voice.

Her eyes looked down at the man he had already gotten the soldier's gambeson off. She was a bat lady and had a nasty cut across the right side of her chest. But, it was stitched and Eilna was applying bandages with magic. Then she watched him move to the soldier that had been felled.

"Your injured are far more severe, please you must relax and let me inspect your wounds," Eilna said.

"F-flesh render! L-lieutenant g-get it away," the soldier said.

She watched as she tried to remember what that term meant. "No demon is Eilna," she responded and knelt down. "A north-folk he is; from the fairy lands. Soldier obey him you must," she said. The way the southern Helsparthii talked always confused her but; she was able to put it together. It was strange how Eilna spoke more like they did.

The ineku tried to struggle but immediately let out a caw from the pain.

"Stop moving, you'll make it worse," Eilna said.

She then watched him melt the ineku's gambeson away and the wound was revealed. Through the black plumage of the raven a thin wound right near his heart was visible. Not even magical healing would fix that, he was likely going to die. She gave her soldier a firm look as if to mention it.

"The arteries were missed but your lungs are damaged," Eilna said.

Gertrude didn't know what that meant then she went wide eyed when Eilna produced a sharp blade and cut her soldier open further. She about spoke up then remembered the insane scars some of Eilna's people had and restrained herself. The Soldier went to scream but faded from consciousness before it came out. Then she saw Eilna use some magic she as more understanding of, but it was different. It didn't seal wounds like the magic she knew, it seemed to be keeping the man's body still, the heart barely beating. As she could now see with her own eyes, a beating heart, in her soldier visible right there. The little fairy's hands were light lightning as he used an odd material to sew the man's lung injury, and even patched a gash that he clearly thought was bad. Many question rushed through her mind but she didn't want to interrupt him.

"Lieutenant," she heard behind her but, she ignored her ensign's voice. Schmidt could wait

The wonderment as Eilna seemed to sew the wound back together with a mixture of his magic and quick use of a needle was impressive.

"He'll be fine make sure he doesn't get out of bed or he'll reopen it," Eilna said and moved to wolf that Gertrude had run through.

"His injury is even less se-" he said as he was cut off

Schmidt had seemed to act without response from Gertrude and swiftly struck Eilna's forearm with a mace. The bone clearly broke in the small male's forearm. The yelp that came from Eilna made her heart skip. This had all happened so fast she hadn't had a chance to stop Eilna herself. But she had also been overstepped. She stood back up with a firm stance and in perfect form punched Ensign Schmidt across his face, and knocked him right over. She was taller than him, bigger, and better trained; plus, he wasn't allowed to strike back. "Never will you overstep my command again Ensign Schmidt," she said.

He went wide eyed and looked up at her confused.

"Elina," she said.

The Fairy was clearly in pain but already had begun to work on his own injury. The sight of him setting his own bone was impressive. He had quickly formed four bone plates and wrapped his forearm in leather; almost as if it was second nature. He then looked up with perked ears.

"Your talents must be saved for my soldiers alone. A law of the land is to not help soldiers of our enemies," she said and knelt down. "For Ensign Schmidt's behavior, an apology I must offer. As a foreigner you are," she said.

Elina nodded at her then stood up. Not a noise came from him though, as now he wouldn't be able to work. She knew that, and she looked at Schmidt with an angry expression. "Well the healer that is best, now a broken arm has. So now you are to the medics fetch, and Eilna here, you will introduce them to. To seal wounds with magic is a talent he knows not," she commented.

The expression in her ensign's eyes spoke of indignation. She was a big lady and had emasculated him, and more than one soldier had seen it happen. Being taller than most of the southern human males was something she had gotten used to a long time ago but, corporal punishment always brought out disdain for her position among her two direct subordinates.

"Yes sir," he grumbled.

"Eilna follow him and watch," she said with a nod

She watched the blightling nod but he approached her and handed her a small leather pouch. "These two here will need a dose of this a day and one immediately. A small amount about the size of your pink nail. Since I cut them open, they have been exposed to the taint of the air; that's what causes death. With that it will greatly increase their chances of survival," he said and nodded. Then he turned to do as he was asked.

She couldn't help but to smile at Eilna's good nature, he even fearlessly approached Schmidt and looked up at the human with clear excitement. No hard feelings; clearly. What an amazing person he was.

"Elina, a flesh render this soldier called you," she said just before he was out of range

"A myth about us, created by us," he said to her and waved happily.

What kind of mess had she just unleashed upon her fort? While no one would attack him, she worried there might be a lot of species based tension created by his presence. Ohh well, her superstitious soldiers were about to learn a valuable life lesson about judging people based on myth and rumor. With that she began to give orders to get the next steps done, and to get her fallen soldiers fixed. A dead man will live, the surviving enemy soldiers were to be killed, and she had a long day of paper after all that to look forward to.