"Thank you for doing this."

"Anything for you."

Sunny squeezed his shoulder as he slowly lowered them through the clouds, the shuttle rumbling lightly around them as they descended.

"Besides, Adam continued, this is important for you, so its not like I am just going to blow it off." He looked up at her hands moving steadily on the controls despite him not bothering to look, "Anyway, might as well do this while we aren't busy with a bunch of other garbage. It's been quiet lately, which I am sure means that shit is about to up and hit the fan."

She had to agree with him.

Sunny dropped her hand, leaving it to rest just above his knee as they continued to descend.

"So, what do we know about them."

"Not much." She admitted, "They are the northernmost clan on Anin, and their isolation has made it.... difficult to contact them. We have had teachers reach almost every Drev clan on Anin to teach them the new ways, but they have been notoriously difficult to contact, much less to convince we are worth talking to."

"Shoot first ask questions later."

She nodded.

Admittedly, Sunny felt a mild pang of guilt upon talking about the Nakt Clan. As a saint it was her duty to know almost everything about almost every clean in order to serve them better. And while she had spend months learning about the different clans of Anin, she had had trouble finding very much information about these strange northerners. She knew their enviornment had been harsh, and war was common, though it was in most Drev clans. From what they did know, the Nakt had survived in the chilled north by way of thermal heating inside active volcanic mountains, much as the hidden tribe had survived on the borders of the fertile belt. She didn't know where those cave entrances were however, and knew only of their most recent settlement, hunkered in a crater at the base of a mildly active volcano.

They had tried to send representatives in to speak with them previously, but every time the terrain had proven too much. The shallow crater and high walls of the mountains had stopped them in their tracks, not to mention the snow which had fallen before their last attempt. Snow was rare on Anin, even in the north, but the presence of volcanic ash on the dense cool air made it difficult to see even in the summer. Volcanic winter was almost perpetual in the north.

Hopefully, with the snow gone, and the ash cleared, Adam would be able to find his way to their home crater, so Sunny could bring them the teachings.

The clouds around them cleared, and Adam plunged down through the clouds maneuvering them through a serious of impossibly tall, high peaks arranged in jagged formations. Looking down into the narrow canyon below, Sunny saw only fog and ash. The walls of this canyon were so steep and sheer that she knew it would have been an impossible pass if she did not have Adam, and the shuttle.

Pockets of low pressure and thermal updrafts made flying difficult, but If anyone was going to be able to do it, than it was Adam.

They cut around another tall peak before rolling in low over a rocky barren slope.

The sky above them was a sort of dusty blue. The day was bright and there were no clouds, but the perpetual ash in the air still blocked out much of the sun, leaving the waste before them barren and untouched by life.

Looking over at one of the slopes, Sunny saw a heard of Ramhorns nosing their way through the rocks looking up as the shuttle buzzed low over their heads. Spooked, they began to run down the side of the hill, vanishing into a forest of boulders at the base of one of the slopes. A massive glacier dominated much of the scene, sitting side by side with a landslide of volcanic rock, cooled and hardened there over thousands of years.

The shuttle moved forward, cutting over the edge of the crater, just below the volcano, and giving them a view of the settlement underneath. A green Emerald lake sat just to the side of the settlement, its water colored, likely by some sort of unknown algae designed to survive in the cold.

Of course, settlement was a generous word as their only clue to the existence of a clan in the area was a group of Drev children, a large group of them running about beside the lake over the stones, each one of them carrying to large sticks which they used to play fight back and forth between each other over the stone.

One of the children was distracted by the roaring of their engine and was knocked to the ground staring upward with wide eyes.

Adam maneuvered the shuttle over to the other side of the lake and Sunny watched as the children broke from their game and began running towards the base of the volcano. At first it seemed like they were running towards a dead end. There were plenty of large boulders there to hide behind and natural divots in the rock, but otherwise it was relatively barren.

They touched down with a clatter against the rocks.

It was just then that sunny noticed a sudden shift in the boulders and caverns against the side of the cliff face. Hidden doors opened up both in the side of the boulders, the mountains and the ground itself, revealing reddish interiors that were quickly blocked by hulking Drev warriors who streamed from their hidden places and out onto the stone before their dwellings.

The weapons that they carried were thick, and heavy in comparison to the traditional fighting spear of the Drev, blunt and blocky in the shape of human axes, or clubs.

Adam cut the engine, and Sunny grabbed her helmet, pulling the pearly metal slowly onto her head. Beside her Adam was doing the same. Sunny wore the armor of the saints, the strange pearly sheen created by Naktan in the holy mountain using metal working abilities that had long been lost to time. When she walked she glowed like a pearl and shed rainbow colors of refracted light. Even the cape she wore glistened like a pearl, made from the silky threading of rare white moss.

Adam Wore the armor of a sentinel leader done in the style of human plate armor, though on his head he wore a spartan helmet, and a spartan cape fluttered over one shoulder.

Together they stepped out into the crisp morning air, almost frigid as a gust of wind kicked up the emerald water of the lake next to them and blew it towards them.

Together they walked over the open stone towards the waiting warriors.

Sunny held her pearlescent spear in one hand and walked with slow confidence.

It wouldn't do to appear concerned.

As they drew closer the line of Drev bristled with their weapons.

They were fucking huge.

Not one of them was under nine feet tall, or at least it seemed so, and each one was built like a boulder.

At first Sunny assumed that their carapace was covered in armor, or some kind of painted oil, only to realize a moment later that that was not the case. There were no bright colors here, the beautiful carapace of the average Drev darkened and tinted into dark colors, some brown, almost black. In a traditional Drev clan such a thing would have been considered ugly, though Sunny was hardly a believer of such things. People had looked at her and thought the same thing.

"Who are you!" One of them demanded stepping forward with her axe raised defensively.

Adam frowned doing his best to understand their thick northern accent.

The Drev here were more guttural than those from the fertile belt, giving them a more growling sort of language. Not to mention that there were a few words in there that he didn't understand at all.

Sunny knew it was from the northern dialect, slowly split of from them over time and slowly transitioning into a language all their own.

"Lower your arms, we are not here to fight, but to bring knowledge."

She placed her words delicately, do not fear, or do not worry was a poor use of phrasing, as it could easily offend a Drev clan.

"What Knowledge." She spat

"I am Chalan, saint of the Sun, and I am here to bring you knowledge of the new doctrine."

A muttering rose up around the Drev clan, and they looked back and forth between each other with unsure expressions.

They looked her over.

They looked Adam over.

One of them whispered in a child's ear and they ran off towards the back of the clearing. They were left in silence for only a minute as the child reappeared, and behind them came walking a great hulking behemoth of a Drev. To use human terms this Drev was built like a brick shithouse. He was around eleven feet tall, a good four feet taller than Sunny, with dark red carapace so dark it was almost black. His entire body was scarred with war and time. The armor he wore was the armor of a Sentinel polished to a mat black but inlayed with bright silver designs. It was beautiful armor, but despite it's beauty it was also functional. In one hand he carried an absolutely massive axe, which would have been taller than sunny from haft to end.

When he walked the stone below his feet shook.

Where the others seemed wary, he did not, and stepped out before his clan with his head raised high. He looked down at the two of them with an expression verging on dismissive, "You are the saint of the sun?" His voice was deep, so deep that it rumbled through her chest and made her armor vibrate.

"I am." She said simply

She didn't have to explain herself.

He looked her up and down doing nothing to hide his skepticism verging on condescension, "We have heard of the saint of the sun. We heard she was a mighty warrior who fought in great wars in the stars. We heard that she was the daughter of great generals. They say her beauty is beyond compare and when she walks she glows like fire."

He looked her over again this time almost openly mocking, "I see a Drev in child's amor."

So he was going to play that was he, "And I see an arrogant fool."

The clearing stiffened somewhat.

She stepped forward, "I have fought many battles among the stars, I have trained with many nations and peoples," She stepped forward, "I have seen visions and, communed with spirits, and met creatures of godly power." She took another step closer until she was within arms reach of the massive Drev staring down at her with his cold red eyes, "You do not impress me." She lifted her chin not bothered that she had to practically crane her neck back to look him in the face.

He huffed, a gout of steam rising from the breathing holes on his neck.

"Then there is one way to prove who you truly are."

He raised his axe and Drove it into the stone at her feet.

She didn't flinch.

"A duel it will be."

There was another muttering around the clearing. The large Drev turned to his soldiers and pointed at them with a raised hand, "Prepare the dueling circle!"

The Drev raised their weapons in the right hand or pounded their chests in a salute before running off. To be fair to him, sunny thought, he had good control of his clan, and they seemed to respect him. Watching him moving through the ranks of his own people she noted the way he spoke with them. Firm, but not harsh.

He did not trust her, but he took care of his clan. This was not about personal prejudice. When she looked at him she got the feeling of a Drev who wasn't particularly impressed by anyone or anything. She could have been the queen of all drevkind and he still would have looked at her like that.

She stood, and Adam stood next to her hand on his spear, "You gonna fight that monster."

"That's the plan."

"You'll want to get inside his guard as much as you can."

"I think demonstrating the human technique will do us well, don't you?"

He nodded looking up at her.

"Are you worried?'

He smiled, "No not particularly. I'm a little worried for their Sentinel though."

She tiled her head to get a better look at him. The way he walked, the way he moved. He was a warrior for sure, the fight was going to be a good one, but he was very heavy, and heavy tended to mean slow. Not to mention his weapon was huge, which would be to her advantage. Ass large as it was it was going to have more momentum, that meant more hitting power, enough to break her spine in one shot, but he was going to have more trouble controlling it than your average Drev would with a simple spear. She wasn't going to be able to rely simply on skill to best him, it was going to have to be speed and strategy. Then there was, of course, the design of his armor.

Adam was right, He was a real brute, but likely used to being taller than his opponents. The way their armor was built would make it difficult for them to raise their arms at the highest arc, if not impossible.

She could definitely use that. In that case it meant making him shorter than she was. Get him on his but or his knees and he would b. His but even better as he wouldn't hav the strength of his hips to throw into a swing.

The Drev were done with their preparations and raised their spears to the sky overhead bellowing a battle cry so deep and guttural it echoed for miles.

She thought she heard the rumbling of rocks in the distance.

Adam jogged at her side as she made her way over to the circle. It was larger than the dueling circles she was familiar with, likely to accommodate their huge hulking bodies. Stepping inside might have made her feel small when she was younger, but there was something about a readied dueling ring that relaxed her, cause her to slide back into herself.

Adam jogged over to where the judge was ready to call the fight.

They glowered at him and he glowered right back.

"You can go sit with the others."

"I am here to check your honor, and it is my right as sentinel."

He tapped his armor, and the Drev stared at him in shock, "You..."

"Better believe it, son." He said biting the Drev words as a guttural growl in his human throat.

He was bout to argue but a look by his sentinel shut him up, and Adam was allowed to stand to the side judging the fight with the other proctor.

The Proctor stood, "A challenge from Sentinel Ranasash to Chalan Saint of the Sun. The battle will go to failure, though non intentional death will be waved." He raised his axe, and then dropped it once through the air to go sparking off the rocks.

Ranasash as he was called did not waste time testing her and barreled towards her with his axe raised.

To anyone else it might have seemed like a headlong charge without any skill, but sunny saw right through his ploy. She saw the way his feet were planted and the way his hands held onto the axe to change direction at any moment. She waited for hm to get close holding her spear up as if to block. He would use his massive muscle to overwhelm her, but as he arched down, she leaped forward ducking.

The axe swung right past her, and she went skidding between his legs.

That was a perk of being small.

The weight of his axe in full swing was enough to catch him and pull him downwards metal sparking off rock.

Sunny snapped her spear back hard aiming for his exposed carapace, but he was fast for a large Drev, and he turned on the spot like a pivot causing her to only score a glancing gash along the shoulder of his armor.

Sparks flew from the tip of her weapon as he swung a massive underhand blow towards her. She leaped back.

A swing like that could end her in one swoop if she wasn't careful.

The Drev outside the circle were cheering and hooting.

She came in from his right, adopting one of the old styles. Wind stance, which was quick and sapped like the end of a whip. He blocked her with the metal of his forearm, and she noted how much tougher the metal was built than traditional Drev armor.

The blow likely hurt, but he didn't show it. He swung at her again levering the massive axe up into the air with one hand. She ducked straight through where the axe head would have gone through her neck, and he caught it with his other hand revering the momentum and swinging it back as she ducked again. He wasn't toying with her, and she wasn't going to toy with him.

She dropped all pretense of the old stances and dove straight for his legs.

That surprised him.

Who could blame him, Drev never developed hand to hand combat on their own.

She caught him around the knees pulling him out of stance and lifting into the air. His center of gravity, which was so much higher than his knees, could not cope with the sudden change of balance, and he toppled over backwards, hitting the ground with a loud clatter. His surprise did not deter him, and he kicked at her with the flat of his foot, catching her high in the chest. She was sent skidding backwards curling up into a ball as the metal of her armor skidded over the ground.

But using that, she rammed her spear into the ground and pulled herself into a sharp turn just as he was getting to his feet.

The spear flexed and she kicked upwards landing a blow right on his chin which flattened him right to his back again.

She followed her kick upwards and dove on top of him, grabbing one of his lower arms and Pulling it into a painful lock against her body.

He didn't scream, but grimaced grabbing her with his left upper arm and wrenching her off. Sending her flying to the side where she skidded into a low crouch. She didn't let go of his arm until the last moment, and there was a pop as the socket dislocated leaving him with a useless arm. She could see the surprise in his eyes, more potent then pain as he stared at her quickly rolling to his feet and grabbing his axe. That first violent combat had been enough for them to feel each other out, determine strengths and weaknesses.

She knew what she had to do.

He was not used to the new fighting styles, and while what he was doing was not entirely common either, she could see that it had commonalities with both fire and stone. It hinged on raw power and terrible strength, but he gave up a lot of speed mixing fire with stone. He seemed to have figured this out as well, leaning towards a heavier version of stone stance as she roared in again testing him, poking at his defenses.

The style he used was a hardened variation of stone, and so was more effective at blocking though it left him no real time for offence. She battered him from every angle she could think of. But he blocked it with the haft of his axe, grabbing the back of the blade in one hand like he was holding a quarterstaff or spear. He knew what he was doing, and he adapted quickly, but there was one thing he would find difficult.

Sunny cut in right and then left. He blocked both. She went up and down, he blocked those as well. She repeated that pattern tow more times through different moments until his reactions grew quicker, his muscle memory memorizing those blocking movements.

Left righ, he went to go up, but she went down slamming her spear right into his foot.

With a snarl of pain he stumbled to one knee and she leapt into the air. He went to raise for another block but his armor, so used to fighting those shorter than him, blocked him . She used it to spring upward and came down swiping with horrendous power that sent his helmet spinning across the ground.

He was knocked backwards, and the Drev around the circle gasped.

He was not phased and left his helmet rolling on the ground as he leapt to his feet.

She saw the change in his stance immediately as he cut towards her. Whatever this was, it was precise. His eyes were locked on her like a missile targeting system, and it took all she had to keep him at bay. His focus was so complete that she could see the tendons bulging in the side of his neck as he tried to block distractions from the outside of the ring.

He caught her a glancing blow along her side and she staggered. He swiped at her from the other direction, and she threw herself into the air watching as the blade sliced beneath her.

It was time to be done with this.

She dropped her spear.

That broke his concentration and he paused.

She rolled forward like a ball, cutting under his guard and then leaped upward. She grabbed him around the waist gripping onto his armor.

No Drev her size would be able to throw him,

Accept for

Humans had figured out how.

She turned lodging her shoulder against his belly and fell forward. Using his own balance against him, she threw him to the ground again, with a resounding crash. From there she grabbed him by the hand on his bad side, pinning the other two arms with the strength of her feet. He fought against her and almost managed it but she held him down.

And then she pulled back on his hand slowly applying pressure to the elbow joint If she bucked hard enough she would break his elbow backwards.

Essentially crippling him.

Lets see how arrogant he really was. She had already taken out one of his lower arms, which wasn't a problem, but to take out one of a warriors upper arms in a simple duel would be devastation.

She applied pressure, "I YEILD!"

He didn't say it quietly.

She was impressed by that, and as he spoke she let go rolling away to grab up her spear.

The circle was silent.

He slowly got to his feet.

Across the circle she was breathing hard. She didn't try to hide her exhaustion. He had fought well, and they all deserved to know that he had.

He turned to look at her cradling his dislocated lower arm against his belly. He looked at her red eyes unblinking.

They waited.

And then he nodded to her Raising his right fist to his chest in one of those strange salutes before kneeling to the ground and bowing his head, "Chalan, saint of the sun." The others hurried to follow his lead dropping to their knees. His defeat had not changed their opinion on him. He had fought well but she had used unknown tactics.

After a moment he stood.

"Our clan welcomes your doctrine. Any fighting style that can vest an opponent over half your height is a style worth learning." He seemed almost gleeful at the idea red eyes hungry for the knowledge that she held.

She liked to see it.

Here was a Drev who was not unwilling to learn. A little stubborn and bull headed on the onset, but she could respect that.

He motioned her to follow, leading her back over the stone ignoring his arm as he invited them into the back most cavern, into a very large room.

The furnishings were rough, but carved and painted onto the stone walls were beautiful depictions of long lost battles lovingly upkept despite their age, "You will teach us how to fight like you do." He turned to look at her, "Tell me what style bested me in the end."

She hummed, "Human?"

"Human?" He said in confusion

She turned and pointed to Adam, "I learned it from them."

The sentinel stared down at Adam just over half his own height.

"This creature?"

"Don't Underestimate humans your glory, They will surprise you."