“Fae, your intentions?” Commander Briggs asked calmly.

She was weaving up another Portal as Archmage Obai watched in disbelief, the light of the sun on the other side making it clear she was pulling in people from thousands of miles away. More hard-eyed men and women with a unique air about them came pacing quickly through the Portals, which closed as smoothly as they’d been opened.

“I would prefer to track Magogo’s path and find out where he was infected, and by what. That is the true danger here,” she admitted, and after a moment, Archmage Obai winced to himself as he found himself agreeing. Anything that could corrupt a King Honey Badger like this was a threat not merely to his city and province, but the entire country!

“I don’t want to waste the time for you tracking him. Can Reynard handle it?” the towering Briggs asked.

She inclined her head. “Yes.”

A second later, two powerful animals, each bearing the resplendent, but not aggressive Auras of lesser Nobles, came hopping out of nowhere into place right next to her.

Archmage Obai sucked in a breath upon seeing the seven-tailed Golden Winged Fox, crowned with arching horns and metallic fur, a powerful breed that fairly shone with Nobility, obviously one of the highest Bloodlines of the vulpine races! Sitting upon it was a true Golden Monkey Baron, obviously one of the smaller breeds, magnificently mustachioed in silken white. His hide was nearly as golden as that of the Fox, and he was holding onto a thick bar of metal with ease and strength.

“Turk, Reynard, we have a dangerous mission for you.” The two Beasts looked eager and ready to go, and then Lady Fae turned around and looked at them.

They lost some of their pride and glee instantly, expressions turning somber and grim as they stared at her, and then out beyond the walls.

“Yes. We are talking something at the level of power of an Emperor or a Sage,” Briggs broke in grimly. “We need you two to find out WHERE it happened... that is all. When you have done so, Lady Fae will have you stand watch and anchor a future Portal for us. Please attempt to warn away any and all other Beasts who might end up corrupted by this. We don’t want to repeat this.”

“Will be done!” the glorious Golden Fox promised somberly, his Voice a Psychic chime, his elegant and magnificent wings spreading wide as the Marmoset on his back pumped his hefty Stick. The Fox stepped forward, and then popped smoothly out of sight, Blinking at least two miles away and up instantly, followed instantly by a streak of Light heading for the horizon.

Archmage Obai wondered if he had been blessed or cursed by what was going on here, dazed by all the powerful magic on display, as one last Portal opened, and a final team of hard men and women came urgently through it.

“Sama, take the Undead Hunters and get them prepped.” The scarred blonde Sama nodded, made a come-along gesture, and trotted towards the city walls. Without a single word, the new outlanders followed after the woman, who somehow looked more savage than any bush tribesman Obai had ever seen.

“Undead Hunters...” the Archmage of Franceville repeated carefully.

“Not where we expected to see them come together first, but needs must. Fae, what do you want to do?” Briggs asked.

“I expect that a large portion of the city’s defenses is going to come from Contracted and Summoned Beasts,” she replied smoothly, glancing at Archmage Obai knowingly.

“Ah, yes, there are many Summoners among our residents,” he agreed, somewhat surprised she was focusing on them.

“I will need to be speaking with all of your Summoned and Contracted creatures before the battle starts. Sending them up against Undead Beasts will result in them being slaughtered unless they are properly prepared.”

Obai pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I am myself a Summoner...” he mentioned.

“And I imagine your Beasts are good friends who have been with you for many years, and you don’t want them corrupted or turned into Undead if you can help it?” she asked politely.

“I do not!” he agreed strongly. “How do you intend to prepare them?”

“It is not difficult, merely repetitious and a bit showy. Where can we gather?”

“There is a plaza near the walls used for marshalling our forces. We can assemble there.”

--------

Archmage Obai had never seen so many Beasts, even Plants, bowing to anything that was not a Great Beast itself.

But standing there, with the Tokens of Beast Emperors dangling from her Staff, every single Beast submitted to her, even the most recalcitrant of them on their very best behavior as they stood before her.

His proud Summoners, considered among the most Elite of the mages under Obai’s command, were a bit put off by how easily their many Beasts were overwhelmed by the young woman before them, regardless of how powerful or intimidating their Beasts were.

But like his own Burning Acacia Tree and Diamond Tusk Elephant told him, “She stands with the Will of Emperors.” And that was all there was to it.

And now she was speaking with them all, and they were listening intently.

“The Beast Realm has also faced invasions of creatures of the Netherworld, both of Shadow and Undead. There was a weapon used to fight them, called vivic fire, that was placed on the horns, beaks, and teeth, the claws and hooves of the Beasts that went to battle, so that they might kill the Shades and Undead forever, and release them from their torment and slavery.

“Watch now, how the Beasts did battle.”

The illusion she brought up was magnificent, the detail astounding. Everyone could tell it was not real, but the depth of it was fine enough that there was no denying that this was a scene drawn from sight and memory. The very stars of the sky were alien, and the air seemed to fill with a Mana and sounds and smells of a world that was very much not the Mortal Realm!

The many Beasts watched raptly as a massive battlefield unrolled before them, stretching for many miles. All sorts of great Beasts, including many that none of the Humans there had ever seen before, enough to make them gasp in awe and delight and wonder, were doing battle with horrors of the nether realms.

And thousands of them had weird electrum flames burning on them, flames they were mauling the invading Undead and Shadows with!

“Do not grapple. Do not gnaw. Do not cling, do not hold. Do not bite and swallow. Look at how they strike,” Lady Fae went on, and the very intent Beasts watched the great creatures of the Beast Realm do battle.

“They rip. They tear, but they do not worry at the wounds. Look at their enemies. It does not matter how they are injured. They feel no pain. They have no guts, they have no blood. Look how they are injured, and they still move.

“There is only one way to take them down quickly, and that is to destroy the head, or sever the neck and spine.” Different scenes of Beasts powerful enough to do that, a Golden Glory Lion ripping through an Undead skull with massive claws, a mighty Broken Mountain Bear smashing a head completely off, a glorious sapphire-and-orange Kongmato Dragon-Bird hammering an Undead skull right through with one piledriver pecking motion. There was even a Grootslang visible there, pounding Shades down with massive burning forelimbs after sweeping them from their feet with its great tail, crushing skulls or impaling them with its massive triple tusks as they fell.

“No chewing, no swallowing. Everything burns.” She pointed out many, many fights where Undead and Shades had been cut many times, and were covered with wounds burning with mistfire, plainly consuming the invaders and hampering them. “Cut them. Wound them. Set them on mistfire. It is the same as bleeding them, as it will take time for them to die. Be patient, and let them Burn and fall. If you can take off their heads, do so. But if you get within range of their claws or weapons, you can very well die if you are not quick. Many of their attacks will ignore your hides and bark, and strike directly at your spirit.

“You do the work of the Emperors this day. You will free their spirits and return them to the Land once more, free of the grasp of the Nether Realm.

“I do not think I need to tell any of you how terrible it will be to fight King Magogo, who has fallen to the Undead Element. That will be a task for only the mightiest of you.

“Summoners, if King Magogo charges for your Beasts, it is your duty to Unsummon them immediately. We will be assaulting him, have no fears on that end, so if he is trying to kill the Beasts, it is to turn them into Undead.

“Do not let that happen.”

Even the proudest and most arrogant of the Summoners knuckled under to a Sage. They hadn’t seen her Summons, of course, but having a Monkey Ruler and a unique seven-Tailed Fox under her command would have at least put her as their peer!

“Healer Fae!”

The Silver-Maned Lion’s bellow was translated more than understood, but there was no denying the reverence in it. It was a sacred beast, Ohumbai’s longest and most beloved companion, and Archmage Obai had known it for years. To ‘hear’ it addressing her with a Name in the Tongue of Beasts jolted him in amazement.

How did a Human earn a Name from creatures of the Beast Realm?!

Her eyes turned to the Lion. “Oh, one of Goldenback Ape Emperor’s Vassals,” she said with a smile of greeting. “I understand many of the Contracted were not able to get close to the Breach during the fighting, or we might have met before. Is Golden Bone Lion King well?”

The Lion literally prostrated himself. If the bows before had been of great respect, the Great Commander of a Lion was now abasing himself! “The King is well! His teeth and claws yet Burn! This one honors Healer Fae, the Vassal of Flowing Silver Nine-Tails Fox High Emperor!”

Every Summoned Beast there promptly went flat at the Lion’s statement, without any hesitation at all. The Contracted Beasts paused a moment to process that statement, and then followed suit.

The Summoners felt the Beasts’ reverence in the air, and knew that even if they ordered their companions to attack her, nothing of the sort would ever happen!

“It is time for all your horns and teeth and claws to Burn,” she replied simply. “This fight... is THAT fight. Only it is here in the Mortal Realm, not the Beast Plane.” The Lion rumbled a roar of challenge and burning desire to do battle. It had not been able to join the war in the Beast Realm, but now was its chance!

“What I will do now is treat all your natural weapons with the Vivic Fires of Heaven. This is not something any creature of the Dark can tolerate, which is why I told you not to bring any such forth,” she said to the Summoners as an aside. “These flames are how you will bleed and bring the Undead down, tear through their hides, and Burn their bones and undead flesh to ash and dust.”

A Burning electrum Light came up on her hand, and lo, it was the very flame that had adorned all of those many, many Beasts doing battle against the undead!

“We follow your elders and your kin to an ancient battle. Prepare!”

------

Archmage Obai watched her adorn every Summoned Beast first, their enthusiasm to receive the flaming Blessing apparent as horn after claw after beak after fang after hoof after tail was so treated, turning the many Summoned Beasts of great size and power into creatures that looked to have been blessed by the Heavens themselves to fight against the Undead... and were clearly ready and eager to do so!