Damian had three days of relaxation and winding down before he found himself being sent out again. This time he was being flown out to Europe, specifically Latvia. He would meet up with two other Inducted and have their way deep into the Aklā purva taka.

  It was a quick ride to the airport, where he had to negotiate with Bronze about her getting on the plane and not attempting a ten-hour flight on her own. He had to promise lots of treats and spent most of the flight grooming her feathers, but it was worth it to not have her shot down by their escort panes. The fighter jets led the way clearing the few bird monsters that reared their heads, occasionally looping back around to check on their charge. It was a boring flight all told, and Damian found himself somewhat disappointed.

  When his plane touched down in Latvia and he disembarked, he was greeted by a loud boisterous voice. “Velcome, new comrade! Come join us!”

  The speaker was a bear of a man, easily clearing seven feet in height. With a thick beard and squinty eyes, he would have looked intimidating, if not for the large goofy grin spread across his face. He wore jeans and a t-shirt with the caption; enemies are friends you haven’t hugged hard enough yet. The giant man waved energetically, and rose to his tiptoes as if afraid Damian wouldn’t see him.

  As he approached a soft voice spoke up from beside the giant. “Do forgive Viktor, he can be rather excitable.”

  She was a woman of Indian descent, with long raven hair tied back into a pony tail. She was dressed in traditional garments of flowing silk and bright colors. She gave Damian a small smile before dipping her head in greeting.

  “You, must be Damian. Catherine has told me much about you. I am Arushi, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Arushi spoke warmly.

  “Only good things, I hope.” Damian gave her a grin.

  “And I am Viktor, is pleasure to meet you.” Viktor broke in with the energy of an excited puppy.

  “Happy to meet you to, Viktor. So, what’s the plan? Are we heading straight for the portal or holding off for a specific time?” Damian asked.

  “Ve are heading in straight away. Ze military are preparing chopper to take us in. Come let me show you!” Viktor threw an arm around Damian’s shoulder and led him to a different part of the tarmac.

  “You boys go ahead. I need to change into a more appropriate outfit for a fight.” Arushi called after them.

  The boys turned and gave her a wave before resuming their trek. Viktor spoke with excitement as he described the helicopter. He was apparently a military hardware enthusiast and was dying to share with someone. Viktor spoke long and poetically about their ride to the portal, a Russian Mil-Mi8. The soldiers found Viktor’s enthusiasm endearing and would chime in with a few lesser-known tidbits that only someone who piloted the aircraft would know. Viktor soaked up all of it with glee and bounced between the various parts of the chopper as he explained how they worked to Damian.

  Damian noticed one of the workers finish fueling the vehicle, and spoke up to get Viktor’s attention. “Hey Viktor, looks like we will be taking off soon. Why don’t you get changed into your combat gear like Arushi went to do?”

  Viktor paused with a blink, “Da, that is good idea. I will return soon.”

  The big man strode off towards the side of the airport closest to them. Damian shook his head with a wry grin. The man had an excited puppy’s worth of energy, and the frame of a lumbering, disgruntled bear. The contrast was as amusing as it was endearing. Damian heard the clicking of boots on the tarmac and turned to the new arrival.

  Arushi had returned. In place of her earlier dress was a tight leather ensemble interspersed with a familiar metal. Tight leather leggings had gryphon’s zenith bronze panels on the thighs and hips that acted similar to a kilt. Her torso armor had exposed ringlets of chainmail on the sides that faded behind the leather protector in the front and back. Pauldrons adorned her shoulders; they were made in the likeness of roaring tiger heads with glittering sapphires for eyes. Her vambraces were made purely from the gryphon’s zenith bronze and had a tiger pattern put into the design that matched the leather. The leather itself was a beautifully vibrant orange with striking black stripes.

  Arushi caught his stare, “Wonderful craftmanship, no? I only received the metal additions from Catherine yesterday. The leather is made from a Tekhumiavi, a were tiger, it was a difficult kill.”

  Damian smiled at the clear pride in her voice, “Did you make the leather part of the armor yourself?”

  She shook her head, “No, my youngest brother was very into the larping scene. He learned how to make armor for himself and his friends. He was delighted to help me create and armor for me. Though I am still uncomfortable with how…...form fitting…...he made the leather.”

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  “Well for what it’s worth it, you pull it off very well. Together with the zenith bronze, it suggests you favor a more mobile fighting style?” Damian asked.

  Arushi blushed slightly, but smiled at the compliment. “Thank you, and yes, my Baba is a Kalarippayattu instructor with a preference for the spear. He was always sad that none of my elder brothers wanted to pick it up. He was thrilled when my younger brother and I wanted to learn. It is a more agility focused fighting style so lighter armor is a boon.”

  “Impressive! I prefer ranged combat personally, though I wasn’t able to much of that during my first portal closing.” Damian said.

  It was at this point that Bronze decided she had been ignored enough and swooped in to demand proper attention be paid to her. She landed between Damian and Arushi with an indignant squawk at Damian, before turning her stare on Arushi. Which quickly melted into pleased, puffed-up pride as Arushi immediately called her the prettiest bird to ever bird and gave a tribute of head pats. Bronze waddled over to Arushi’s side and chirped her grievances to her while giving Damian a smug look.

  Arushi giggled at Damian’s exasperated look. “Don’t look like that, she is a high-class lady. As such you must pamper her like one.”

  Bronze cawed in agreement and stuck her beak higher into the air. Loud thumps signaled Viktor’s return. He was decked out in full, full plate armor minus helmet. At his waist were two bearded axes that for anyone else would-be two-handed weapons. Viktor caught site of Bronze and his eyes lit up.

  “Vhat pretty bird you have, Damian! She looks strong and fierce; she will surely lead us to victory in our upcoming battles! Come pretty bird, let uncle Viktor give you pets and birdie treats!” Viktor’s voice boomed as he hurried his approach.

  Bronze gave out a delighted chirp and flew over to rest on Viktors massive shoulder. Viktor ran his gauntleted hands through her feathers and fished bits of meat out of his inventory to toss to her. Damian could only shake his head, no matter where she went Bronze was putty in the hands of anyone who babied her.

  The helicopter’s pilot approached and waved them into the vehicle. Bronze decided to follow along outside rather than ride in another cramped space. From take-off, the ride to the portal only lasted an hour. The portal below them swirled with an azure color as opposed to the purple of the last one Damian entered. Around it, was a group of ten bear-like humanoids covered in dense, shaggy fur. Their heads were mostly dog like with a few having the heads of birds. They were squat with potbellies and digitigrade legs.

  “The hell are those?” Damian asked.

  “They are sumpurnis. Think verevolf but permanent. I am surprised to see the bird variety though, those are rarer.” Viktor’s voice cut through the sound of the rotary blades.

  The chopper banked low, allowing for a closer look at the clearing, and the glowing azure portal.

  Viktor grabbed one of his axes and jumped out of the helicopter before Damian could stop him. “Damn it Viktor! Pilot take us in closer so we can back him up!”

  Viktor hit the ground like a cannonball, landing right on top of one of the sumpurnis. Viktor’s joyous laugh echoed through the forest as he charged at another of the beasts. The chopper got as close as the pilot dared, three stories above the forest floor. Sharing a quick look, and nod, Damian and Arushi leapt out. Arushi plunged with her spear in an elegant dive, that ended with her spear point in the head of one of the potbellied monsters. She used the momentum to flip over the beast, tear out her spear and slash it down on another of the sumpurnis. Damian covered her back by landing nine bolts in three sumpurnis that attempted to charge at her exposed back.

  Landing with a roll Damian popped up and stood back-to-back with Arushi. Four sumpurnis remained untouched and were preoccupied, fending off a jolly Russian giant with twin axes. The one slashed by Arushi was warily weighing its options. The three pincushions by Damian, had parts of their chests sloughing off as Nocturne Buck’s necrotic poison did its job. One was killed outright as one of the bolts found the beast’s heart. One had a chunk of its side gone while the last was down an arm. The first to break the stalemate was the beast missing part of its side.

  “Damian bend and swap.” Arushi ordered.

  It took a second for her to get what she meant. He bent his torso forward and felt Arushi roll over him. He managed to catch a glimpse of the sumpurnis impaling itself on her spear as he turned and fired on the now charging beast with a slash across its chest. Damian led a trail of bolts from the beast’s stomach to its head, before turning and taking aim at the last remaining sumpurnis from their group. Arushi had retrieved her spear and danced out of range of the beast’s frantic claw swipes. She gave probing strikes to keep the beast at bay, and when Damian’s bolts started to land on the creature she pounced. Her spear entered the beast’s mouth as it opened to howl in pain and exited the back of its throat, as bolts slammed into the creature’s side.

  They both turned to assist Viktor only to find that he had already killed his group and was watching their fight. He had a big goofy grin on his face and was clapping for them with all his might.

  “Vonderful, my friends! You fight like masters!” The big man cheered for them.

  Damian surged towards the big guy a frown of worry on his face. “That was a nasty fall, Viktor! Are you okay? What were you thinking, man? We need your help to close this portal quickly.”

  “Do you need a healing slave, Viktor? I have a few that should speed up the recovery of your legs.” Arushi added.

  Viktor gave them a confused look before a light seemed to go off in his head. “Oh! No need to vorry. I have invested near all my essence into durability. I am tough as steel! Ve vere only three stories in air, is just basic rooftop height. Add few more stories? Maybe outcome changes.”

  Damian gave a relieved sigh, “A bit of warning next time big man. I thought you hurt yourself in your haste to get to the portal.

  Arushi nodded in agreement, “Please discuss with us before taking action next time, Viktor.”

  Viktor gave them a sheepish grin as Bronze landed on his shoulder and chirped at him, “Of course. Sorry, I can get little too enthusiastic at times. Is problem I am working on.”

  Damian clapped Viktor on the shoulder, “It’s fine. Just keep us in mind when you do stuff, yeah?”

  With a nod from Viktor, the group turned and entered the swirling portal. The world faded away in a rush of azure light and Damian wondered what he would be in for this time.