Matheus blinked and his grandmother was gone, almost as if she disappeared from existence. He found himself alone in the cave.

"So..now what do I do?" he asked the three beings in his head.

Ravina spoke up, "Isn't it obvious?-return home and help your tribesmen fight their war!"

"Won't they wonder where...Tyna went?" he asked.

Boiuna spoke this time.

"No, she is a goddess and has the ability to wipe the minds of many people at once, they will likely think you were on a lone scouting mission," said the snake.

"Now, go boy, you've wasted too much time sitting here!" said Rapido.

And with shaking legs, he stood up and ran out of the cave.

The tribesman from earlier was still there. As Matheus approached he asked with a grin, "So...how was the scouting mission?"

Matheus paused and then said after a few moments, "It went swell"

The man nodded and mounted the wagon.

Matheus glanced back at the cave one last time. The time he spent inside was clear in his mind, a series of events that had changed his life forever. He turned away and grasped onto the edge of the wooden wagon. Then climbed up, placing himself into the cargo hold.

A few moments later, the wagon was making its way back towards the camp.

"I'm curious Matheus..what do you think you'll do when your tribe goes to war?" asked Ravina suddenly.

"Like any loyal tribesmen, fight the war," he replied.

"Don't endanger yourself too greatly Matheus. You are still needed," Said Ravina.

"No promises there," replied Matheus grimly.

"Then just try your best," stated the boar

"Real comforting.." he mused.

"What is?" asked the driver.

"u-uh-to be back at camp-!" said Mathues quickly.

"Indeed it will be.." replied the driver.

Eventually, the wagon pulled back into camp where Matheus jumped off and looked around.

It looked drastically different than just the other day. Even though he had only been gone for one day.

In every direction ran a tribesman, securing different locations and delivering weapons to the few wagons left in the village.

A tribesman ran by him and Matheus stuck out his arm to stop him.

"Hey what's going on?" He asked the tribesman.

The tribesman responded quickly, "Patrols have reported constantly by lookouts near to our camp. Just a few hours ago, they officially declared war on our tribe-so we are heading to war." He ran off after finishing.

"Wait..war-!?" He asked in slight disbelief.

"Yes, it seems so," stated Ravina in his head.

"Matheus, it's good you are back-but we don't have time for formalities-get your weapons and armor and get into formation!" Stated Man'tha who had appeared from behind a hut dressed for war, with wooden armor and war-paint to boot.

"Wait-what about the weak and elderly-!?" He asked

We've sent them to a nearby smaller camp that we set up for them to fall back to," Man'tha replied.

"And the shaman?" Asked Matheus.

Man'tha strangely looked stunned as he said slowly.

"Matheus..we've not had a shaman for seventy years-" he began before another tribesman came up to him and interrupted him.

"Our wagons are fully loaded and we are ready to move out!"

Man'tha turned to the man and nodded.

"Good...EVERYONE MOUNT UP-WE ARE MOVING TO WAR!" He bellowed out.

Matheus had no choice but to go along. He quickly put on wooden straps and grabbed a spear, a small ax, and a dagger. After a few moments, he decided to also grab a bow with a full quiver of arrows.

He needed to be prepared.

Climbing up onto the wagon he had just been in moments before, he pulled the wooden helmet's face mask over his face as the wagons pulled out of the camp in a single line formation and into the jungle.

____________________________

The forest cleared into a large open field which Matheus realized was the field in which the infamous ritual of bones had occurred.

The stone sat in the direct center of the fields undisturbed after all these years.

The massive army of tribesmen then fanned out, creating lines each roughly ten men thick.

In the front, spearmen equipped their spears and raised their shields creating a wooden wall, ready to tackle anything that would've come their way.

Matheus noticed that they were preparing for an attack and began to wonder, did they know some unseen enemy that was stationed in the woods that had yet to show themselves?

He got his answer roughly five minutes later on the far side of the field opposite to his own comrades another army sprung forth.

Their metal glistening in the sunlight an army of conquistadors fanned out roughly equal in size to Matheus's.

The tribesmen beside him bristled at the sight of their superior armor and weaponry.

A chariot pulled by two very healthy and large horses pulled into view.

This chariot, unlike the wagons of the tribes, was meant for war with metal armor alongside its wooden frame.

And it seemed to have a large crossbow mounted on its back and spiked wheels.

Man'tha walked to the very front of the formation and bellowed out.

"You have killed out hunters and injured our men, retreat now or your lives are forfeit!" He raised his spear in challenge to the enemy army.

In response, a tall, muscular man walked forward. It could be made clear by his fancier designs on his armor and larger shoulder blades that he was the commander of this army-and maybe of all the conquistadors.

His helmet held the head of an eagle as he raised what seemed to be a spiked club.

The rest of the soldiers were armed with swords that had thin needle-shaped bladed and large two-handed metal swords, some at the front carried large spear-like weapons with points that pointed out into multiple areas.

While some had crossbows and were more situated towards the back of the formation.

All this ran through his head as Matheus saw the apparent field commander raise his arm and bellowed back.

"It has been decreed that you and your clan are unfit to live in this forest by the god Shad!"

"Shad is no god here!" replied Man'tha as he raised his arms and let out a war cry, his soldiers following his moves and sending out a war cry of their own.

In response, the Conquistadors entered fell a fighting formation as the commander bellowed.

"Then you will test his judgment!"

Matheus noticed that as he spoke, clouds had gathered over the field, dark and with a sense of malice.

Ravina spoke in his head.

"Those clouds aren't natural, someone here is controlling the weather" spoke the boar.

"Like who?" Matheus whispered in question.

"His name is Ahex...an old sorcerer, who dreams of becoming immortal and ruling the realms one day," replied Rapido.

"Typical villain bravado," mused Boiuna.

"Great..can you guys like..help me fight during this battle?" asked Matheus

"Regrettably we cannot, your body cannot handle us just yet..your human forms are valued greatly by many species..for some reason-but, your bodies are also very fragile-yet adaptable," stated Boiuna.

"That's helpful..couldn't you tell me that earlier?" whispered Matheus.

"You never asked..also duck down and raise your shield," said Boiuna.

Matheus' eyes widened as he brought his shield up in the nick of time. A flurry of arrows rained down upon the army of tribesmen, a few unlucky ones found arrows striking them down with hits to the neck and legs.

"To war!!!" bellowed Man'tha.

And with that, the large army of tribesmen surged forward, the spear-men at the front, and posed to impale any of those who dared to stand against them.

In response, the conquistadors surged forward, the commander at the lead.

As the two enemies raced towards each other, it began to rain. But this rain seemed to hold malice within it as well and was heavy like sleet.

However, Matheus hardly had time to fathom it as the front lines of each army began to clash together.

A mixture of grunts, yelps of pain, and metal clashing together was heard as the center of the field turned into a cluster of violence.

One tribesman found a sword in his stomach, while a conquistador found an arrow in his face.

Matheus rolled forward, narrowly dodging a spear as he swung his own spear at the leg of a conquistador, not causing harm but tripping the man as Matheus stood and drove his spear into his neck as he scanned the immediate battlefield around him.

All around him, chaos reigned supreme, as each side struggled to out kill the other, with men falling rapidly on both sides.

The metal and wooden war chariot had joined the fight as it slashed the side of one of the wagon's sending it crashing into a tree.

A tribesman smashed his shield into the face of an enemy soldier but was hit and killed by an arrow before he could deliver the killing blow.

Matheus found his insides filling with a sense of dread as thunder shook across the sky and lightning flashed

"The conquistadors are sending in more forces," said Ravina

The Boar of rage was correct. A few lines of about twenty or so men formed at the edge of the field and held long sticks, he noticed that the rain never even touched them.

He noticed that they held them out straight in front of them as they pressed a level and with a flash, let out a bang that almost instantly, killed several dozen tribesmen.

In a flash, he remembered the dream he had just a few days ago-he only just now realized that that hadn't been just a dream, but rather a warning.

As he ducked down to make himself a smaller target, he noticed that across the field a tribesman had been heavily injured and was in the midst of being dragged away by another tribesman.

However, they didn't get far as a barking was heard and a pair of purple, glowing wolves rushed into battle.

He remembered these wolves from his dream, as he watched as they tore through the necks of the two men as arrows passed straight through them.

He noticed Man'tha heaving an enemy soldier a few feet away from where he broke his neck on a rock.

He swung his Axe and finished off another enemy soldier as he looked in front of him and snarled.

"Ahex..you coward, uniting with our enemy."

A grizzled hunched-back elderly man was now standing on a second war chariot smiled.

""our enemy?... Man'tha..they are the future," said the old man before he raised his staff and the end of it began to glow.

Matheus drew his bow and fired his arrows scoring a few hits here and there and only killing one enemy conquistador as he dropped his bow and looked on.

He noticed pillars of fire starting to appear from the ground-up as he turned to find himself knocked off his feet by a conquistador soldier.

The soldier swung his spear as he raised his shield.

The shield stopped the spear but shattered, sending wooden splinters everywhere as Matheus grunted in pain, he rolled to the side to avoid a metal foot from curb-stomping his chest.

He stood up and drew his spear as he heard another bang and his arm erupted in pain.

A bloody hole had made itself known in his left arm as he fell down again.

He could only watch as the enemy soldier prepared to end his life and deliver the killing blow.

Except it never came.

Markel, his old teacher, had jumped in front of the enemy soldier and parried the spear, sending the soldier off balance. Before cutting the soldier's throat open and turning around and helped Matheus up.

"We're totally outmatched. We gotta retreat-now!" said Markel.

Matheus was fixing to say something as pain throbbed into his left arm.

"That wound looks bad. We need to leave-AGH!".

Markel was cut off as one of those sticks ignited again and this time found its way into Markel's head.

"NO!" screamed Matheus as he tried to pick up a weapon but was knocked off his feet by a pillar of fire, nearly burning him alive in the process.

He watched through a haze of pain as the soldier reloaded his weapon and took aim at Matheus.

And again he closed his eyes and prepared to move into the afterlife.

However, yet again it never came as the soldier in question gave a pained yelp.

Matheus opened his eyes to see what seemed to have been a tree root, straight and sharp, impaling the soldier.

"What..was..that..?" said Matheus in his haze.

"Rest now, young one. you must rest now if you are to transform," said Boiuna in his mind sleepily.

He felt his body close his eyes against his will as in his last few moments of being awake he saw the last few of his tribe struggle to fight off the enemy army.

Only to be cut down by a flurry of swords, arrows, and unseen projectiles.

He felt a strange sensation occur as he glanced to his side and it looked like he was being consumed by the trees.

He realized even in his haze, that it didn't look like it-he was sinking into the forest floor slowly.

Grass soon came over his arms as his last image going through his head was Pillars of fire erupting from the ground, his tribe being slaughtered.

And Man'tha bellowed in rage and fury as he was the last tribesmen standing and charged at the war chariot, his war cry screaming out in vengeance for all those lost.

And grass came over his eyes as he saw Man'tha take down the first few enemy soldiers before turning to charge the rest.

As if he was charged with energy from the gods.

And the grass slid over him.

And his vision faded to black.