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Rolling green hills stretched as far as the eye could see. Devessa ran a hand along the hard carapace of one of the many large ants that roamed the hills. Smiling, she said good bye to the ant colony and continued on her way. Devessa crested a hill and ran a hand through her short brown hair. It was still a ways to her destination, and it was unusually warm for the day. The glint of water to the left caught her eye and she smiled. A dip would be refreshing. She wouldn't make the grove before dusk either way.
Near the edge of the pond, she dropped her pack and began to undo the buckles and clasps on her weapons and armor. Scale glinted in the sunlight as piece by piece it joined its brethren in a pile. The sun felt nice and warm on her bare skin. Devessa made her way to the water and dipped a dainty foot in the water before plunging in. The cold water sent shivers down her back as the water lapped at her pale skin. Devessa glanced at her reflection in the water. She wasn't pretty by any means. Where most celt women were curvy and sported beautiful facial tatooing, Devessa's curves were few and her tatooing she kept hidden. It swirled over her shoulders and back, a beauty she would never match. Devessa shrugged off the thought and finished bathing. She still had a long way to travel and didn't have time to dwell on such silly thoughts.
The rest of her journey was uneventful other than a close encounter with a camp of eriu. The directions she was given failed to mention the camp that was set up rather close to where she was heading. Dusk had just settled as she crested the last hill. Absently she brushed away the gnats buzzing around her head, hitched her pack higher onto her shoulders, and headed into the valley.
Things were just as they had been described to her. Over the small hill at the other end of the valley would be the willow grove. What caught Devessa's eye, however, was the skletal remains of the once proud Great Willow. Its branches stretched up towards the sky as if it tried to pull its roots free from the ground which held it. Devessa had never seen the Great Wilow before it withered and died, but she had heard plenty of stories about how beautiful it once was. Then the Protector of the Grove was killed, murdered by a band of wayward eriu. Somehow the Protector had been able to return from beyond the veil, however the Great Willow remained an empty shell.
Upon hearing that once again the grove's protector was gone, Devessa took it upon herself to journey to the grove and become its new guardian. She was probably one of the least skilled druids, but she felt this was something she could do. Besides, she thought, the Great Willow is gone, there is only the grove to protect now.
Devessa placed a palm on the trunk of the Great Willow and looked around. It was too dark to explore the rest of the grove. Sighing, she determined she would have to wait until morning to do anything else and began to make camp. After a quick meal of cold rations, she climbed into her bedroll and fell asleep.
A low rumbling filtered into Devessa's consciousness and she slowly opened her eyes. The yellow eyes of a very large wolf stared back at her through the darkness. Slowly Devessa reached behind her in an effort to retrieve her sword. A quick glint was all the warning she had before the wolf lunged at her, its teeth digging deeply into her shoulder. Devessa screamed and somehow managed to throw the wolf from her and stumbled to her feet as the wolf charged again. Clumsily, Dev wielded her sword in her off hand, her right arm hanging limply at her side, and tried to block the wolf's razor sharp teeth. She only managed to divert the beast's teeth to her thigh. Again Devessa screamed in pain.
The wolf backed off and slowly began to circle Devessa as she whimpered in pain. Blood ran freely down her arm and leg. The tip of her sword rested on the ground, the blade too heavy to hold upright any longer. She had to blink and shake her head to fight back the black that was beginning to creep into her vision.
Devessa's eyes widened in horror as the wolf lunged for her throat, the sword slipping from her numb fingers.
A single word echoed loudly through the valley as both the wolf and the celt were engulfed in a white hot fire that lit the night sky like it was day.
NOOOOOOoooooooooo............