I went to leave the room, and ran into the physician who’d treated me, a mixture of confusion and fear on his face.

“You…you really did survive?” he asked.

“Looks like it.”

“Are there more? Like you I mean? Beyond the woods.”

“None quite like me, but yes.”

“Wow.” he said, an expression of awe on his face that I found off-putting. He looked toward the room with Atlan in it, then turned to Shay. “How was her mood today?” he asked, a little nervously.

“Seemed fine. Maybe a bit angry, but losing a foot will do that.” she answered.

He sighed. “I would just like to go in there once and not fear for my life. Still, the wound needs to be checked and I have my oath.”

I watched as he steeled himself and went inside. That man would be dead if he lived out in the wastes. A little too soft, and a little too honest. Still, good to see a sawbones actually making an effort.

I walked back out onto the courtyard and started making my way to the gate.

“Where are you going?” asked Shay.

“Walls.”

“Why?”

“Plot my route toward your old bunker. Collect information.” I stopped a little abruptly and she ran into my back. She’d been following close behind. “Don’t need help.”

She nodded. “I understand, but I don’t think I should let you wander around alone.”

I turned to face her. “Good instinct.” Then I turned back to the wall and climbed the nearest ladder. The view from the walls was stark. There was about ten yards of grass cleared between them and the woods. Fresh stumps on the edges indicated that the treeline was pushed back routinely. Beyond those thirty feet of grass was a sea of black trees. I could see wind pushing them back and forth, but also areas where the trees were shifting against the wind. I noted at least three such places as I paced along the walls, passing by confused guards, Shay’s footsteps following a few yards behind me. I stopped, using my compass to orient myself and looked in the direction I’d need to travel. All I saw was the same sea of black that surrounded us.

“Looks like four today,” said Shay, eyeing one of the suspicious patches of trees moving against the wind.

“Four?” I asked.

She nodded, and began pointing out the different ones, including one I’d missed that was moving with the wind, but causing more of a stir than should’ve been there.

“Have they always patrolled like this?” I asked.

“No. This only just started a few months ago. Before that we’d see one or two deeper into the woods, or further away, but now we can’t send a patrol out without a guaranteed fight.”

“Anyone ever tried to leave? You said people died coming into the woods, but do any of the Rens ever try to leave them?”

She shook her head. “No, why would we?”

I looked down at the simple living the people were doing, safe behind walls, unknown to outsiders until recently. “Good point.”

I stood gazing out on the woods a little longer before deciding to ask a question that had been bothering me. “You and the other Rens. You’ve never seen Deadmen before right?”

She shook her head. “No, never.”

That was odd. A settlement as old as this should’ve had at least one born by now. It also brought up another question. “You aren’t scared enough.”

“What?”

“Of me. You’ve never seen anyone like me, but you’re not running away or trying to kill me either. Why?”

“Well, our ancestors' texts spoke about the undead. Your appearance was unexpected, but not something we were wholly unprepared for.”

“Your ancestor’s texts?” I asked.

“Yes. Their handbooks.”

“Can I uh…see these?”

She nodded and started leading the way toward a ladder. I followed behind closely. We walked across the courtyard to one of the further outbuildings. A simple wood structure that looked as well kept as the rest of the castle. She led me inside where there were about a dozen bookshelves and a man dressed in a patchwork tunic sitting at a far table. He peered up at us through a pair of spectacles without lenses, starting a bit when I ducked to enter the room.

“Shay, and… Donovan, correct?”

“Correct.” I answered.

“Hey Jude, Donovan asked to see our ancestor’s texts.”

I saw the look of consternation on his face shift into excitement. “Well, this is them.” He gestured all around himself. “The collected history of our people. Looking for anything in particular?”

“The bestiary,” said Shay.

“Ah. A wise choice in times such as these.” He ducked down between two shelves and popped up to my left holding a thick tome. “Now the first several pages of almost all these books have been marred with time, a former storyteller didn’t do his job properly, but here it is. He placed the book on top of a bookshelf in front of me. The book had an image of a massive white dragon breathing fire while standing atop a black tower, with the words ‘Titans and Towers: Bestiary Vol II, By HH Caylender’ on the front. I peeled it open and started going through it, very quickly realizing it was a game book. Each monster had a block of numbers representing its strengths and weaknesses, as well as a value that seemed to be randomized.

I flipped through the pages, seeing dragons, drakes, gnomes, and other creatures I was used to reading about in the books I collected. I eventually came upon a picture that surprised me. It was a massive bear-like creature, above its picture and description was the word Ursan.

Jude nodded as I reached that page. “Just one example of the value of our ancestor’s records. Without that entry we’d have been dead a dozen times over by now.”

“How did this,” I gestured at the picture, “help you with the Ursans?” I asked.

“Well, look here,” he pointed at a number, “that recommends a group of at least five to fight this creature and here,” he pointed to a symbol of a flame, “shows that they’re weak to fire. A fact that has aided in dozens of hunts. Though, it’s been less effective lately.”

“How would you know? You don’t leave this room,” chastised Shay.

“I read reports, and compile them,” he said, his voice taking on a higher pitch.

These people were as lucky as they were crazy. I continued flipping through the book as they spoke, eventually coming to the section called ‘undead’. Reading that entry made their general mental flexibility about me clear. Pictures of walking skeletons, liches, zombies, massive brutes made up of stacked corpses. If the book had proved helpful with the ursans it made sense they’d prepare for the other threats listed in their little book. I took note that I was apparently weak to bludgeoning damage. Bricks to the head did tend to do me no favors. Maybe there were worse things to establish your worldview on.

I looked around the rest of the room, finding a number of classics, an odd number of medical textbooks, particularly those on virology, and dozens of fantasy and science fiction paperbacks. I even found a few of the Gavain books, none I hadn’t already collected though.

I turned to Jude and Shay, who were arguing about the importance of their roles, and interrupted them. “The bunker you all came from. Your ancestors bring these books from there?”

Jude nodded. “Some of them. Others were with them before the bombs fell.”

I picked at my teeth under the bandana, they were beginning to itch again. “Why did you leave the bunker?”

“We don’t know, exactly, why, but we know it wasn’t safe anymore. Monsters, sickness, there are a lot of things mentioned, but nothing about it was ever written down.”

Going in blind. Not ideal. I nodded and walked out the door.

“Uh, bye,” said Jude behind me as I walked out.

It was starting to get dark, and I noticed groups of people starting to head toward the King’s residence at the far end. The only people still at work were the people up on the walls. I turned to Shay, who remained my shadow. “Where are they going?”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “The feast? The one the king is throwing using the ursan you killed.”

I grunted in acknowledgement frowning behind my mask. I didn’t like eating with other people, but with a minimum of four ursans nearby I likely wouldn’t be able to leave anytime soon, not without the king’s help. I didn’t need to worry about Atlan doing anything to risk my deal with the Khan while she was still healing from her missing foot, so I could afford to take some extra time. Even besides all of that, I felt a kind of deep hunger well up in my gut. I really wanted to take a bite of that bastard. I wanted to know what these monsters tasted like.