he villagers were, unsurprisingly, proving curious at the unannounced appearance of a mysterious black-coated man and his bizarrely large cat. Most of them stared conspicuously at him as he passed, walking behind the pair that had led him into this ‘Visaya’.

Giyeth, the wainwright, turned around to address him as they passed into the town ‘square’ or ‘circle’ as the case may be.

“Well, lord, this is Visaya. If you don’t mind, I should fetch the alderman. He’d like to know if you’re here, if you understand my meaning.”

“Please. Take your time,” Efrain said, hoping that a projection of a patient, polite wanderer would come across as authentic.

“You stay here too child,” he said to the blond-haired girl, “the alder-man will be wanting to speak with you.”

The girl nodded in silence, holding one hand on her side. As the man left, Efrain peered at the tore part of her tunic, seeing pale flesh below.

“Are you injured?” he said.

“I, uh, I got knocked into the grave, when the thing, the thing… vanished?” she said, clearly unsure of what exactly she had witnessed.

“Raise up your arm,” Efrain said as he held out his own hand.

The girl looked at him, confused, and hesitantly followed his instructions. She gasped as Efrain carefully placed his hand against the exposed ribs.

“This might felt slightly strange,” he said, letting magic flow into into her body.

He wasn’t trying to heal anything - that was more Carnes’s speciality than his, but at the very least he could determine the extent of the damage. It was rather simple in principle- letting magic flow over the bones and back into him, and using the time difference to guess at the positioning and angle of the ribs. In practise, one would ‘feel’ the position of the ribs, rather than mathematically determine it. However, it did require an understanding of the anatomy involved, else you could reach too far or too shallow and thus get an inaccurate picture.

As he withdrew his hand, he mimed a surreptitious cough.

“Just bruising. Your ribs are not broken,” he said.

The girl glanced down at her side, and back at him, her frown deepening.

“How’d you know?”

Ah shit, Efrain thought. Examining corpses who did not ask for consent or methodology had made him careless. He stumbled, reaching for an explanation as to what he had just done.

“Well, you see, I merely felt the shape and definition of your ribs. If they were broken, they would move and feel a particular way,” he lied, though it wasn’t too far off from the truth.

The girl gave him a wary look, but she didn’t offer any further comments. Innie by comparison was giving him a warning glance, the vaguest scent of burnt fur itching at his nose. The awkward silence between the two held for some time until Giyeth returned with an older man, bearded and bald, wearing a bronze or copper medallion over his furs.

“Well meet stranger,” he said, his voice soft and halting, “I understand we needs offer you our thanks.”

“Hardly necessary,” Efrain responded, “I was simply passing by.”

“I see,” he said, his drooping eyelids concealing bright eyes, “either way, you must think our hospitality lacking. Please, come out of the cold, to my home. It’s a short walk. Shyana, you come too. Giyeth, you’re free to go back to your work.”

The girl nodded, but refused to respond beyond that, setting off behind the staggered pace of the alderman. As they passed through the small ring of houses, people began to gather, staring a hole in the back of Efrain’s cloak. He was grateful for the offer of a more private space.

The house of the alderman wasn’t particularly notable when compared to the rest of the domiciles. Perhaps slightly larger and older, more reminiscent of the long houses that the peoples of the Vale used. As Efrain stepped into the hall, and shut the door behind him, he recognized some of the painting styles, wound around the wooden pillars. The pigmentation of the various ochres and berry-dyes, as well as those of the minerals that grew near the mountain hot-springs were distinct.

“Is your family from the western side of the valley?” he asked the alderman.

The man looked at him, then at the paintings, and nodded succinctly.

“You’ve seen these before. Are you a native of the valley then?”

“No,” Efrain said, trying to come up with a story, “I’ve merely passed through a handful of times.”

“Please, sit,” he said, indicating piles of furs, draped around the central fire pit, “can I offer you refreshment?”

The girl gratefully nodded, while Efrain politely decline with a shake of the head. The old man sagged into the furs, and took a deep draft from the bowl, before settling it on the floor boards beside him. Efrain began to speak, but was cut off as the man held a hand up.

“I will, of course, hear you out, lord,” he said, “but I wish to hear my own charges first. Surely you understand.”

Clever, thought Efrain. The man was taking a gamble, making a reasonable guess as to Efrain’s temperament, while cross-referencing his story with the girl’s. For any apparent infirmity of body, the mind behind those eyes was clearly still sharp. Efrain decided to play along with him, nodding and sitting in silence.

“Now, Shyana. Tell me what happened?”

The girl’s hands were beginning to tremble as she put down the bowl. The last of the shock was probably leaving her system.

“I was, I was in the graveyard. After they, uh, they took her. I go there when I’m troubled.”

The man nodded along as the girl explained her walk to the cairns, her solitary prayer at the grave of her sister, and the sudden emergence of the mist and the thing. She continued with the appearance of Efrain, the attack of the mist creature, and the explosion, and the long walk back.

The alder man sat in silence, considering the story as it stood. When he had reached a conclusion, he took another long drawl from the bowl and looked at Efrain.

“You may go, Shyana. I will find you if I need further questions. Go to your parents, they must be very worried.”

The silence that proceeded the opening and shutting of the door was uncomfortable, though not unexpected.

“Who are you, and why have you come to our village, outsider?” said the man, likely harsher than he intended.

Efrain thought for a moment as he stared into the flame, dissecting the various responses he could give. Innie brushing against his leg broke him out of his reverie.

Tell the truth, she seemed to say as she circled and curled up before the fire.

“I was tracking creatures, ones that I have never seen the like of,” Efrain said, “the tracks led here, where I found the girl, and a creature, or at least what was left of it.”

The man looked deep into the fires, his eyes indicating he was troubled by the news.

“And what was your purpose?”

“To kill it. They have been destroying patches of the forest. A spirit requested it of me.”

It was risky, revealing his connection to the magical, but he was sure that he’d pegged the man accurately. A descendant of the old peoples of the valley, that often revered creatures like wisp-mothers.

“So, you were commissioned by the spirits,” sighed the man, “such a thing is easy to claim, harder to prove.”

“I understand your doubt-” Efrain began, before being broken off by Innie.

“Do not mistake our intentions, human,” she said, flames licking off her, amber eyes flickering bright, “we have come to preserve the valley, and it would be unwise to stand in our way.”

The man’s eyes had doubled in side, enough that Efrain could clearly see the cataracts and veins along the white.

“My… I-I apologize for any offence. My word, not since the time of my grandmother have we seen one of your kind, my lady.”

“This isn’t necessary, Innialysia,” Efrain remarked sourly.

“We are always here, young one,” she said, settling back into her form, “whether or not we choose to reveal ourselves is an entirely different matter.”

The man at this point had bowed his head in deference. Such things tended to annoy Efrain, as they changed people from, well, people, into blithering sheep. That tended to drag out conversations, and not in a good way.

“I owe you an apology, stranger. Far be it from me to interfere in the business of magic and spirits, nor question one that travels with a wisp-mother.”

“Once again, no apologies are necessary,” Efrain repeated, trying to keep any irritation out of his voice, “you were merely protecting your own.”

“I should warn you,” the man continued, “that many of the towns folks do not follow the old ways. They are adherents of what they call the “Church”. Many don’t take kindly to spirits and mages.”

Efrain was relatively surprised by this fact, even with the presence of the Paladin. Angorrah was about as far away from here as it was possible to get. For the Church to spread its reach all the way this far north and west was indicative of a shift he didn’t fully understand. As he digested the news, Innie began to bathe her paws, while the man waited rather apprehensively.

“Well, I don’t intend to be here for very long, either way. I’m sure the townsfolk can suffer me a few minutes longer,” he said, making sure to chuckle at the remark.

The humour seemed to loosen the man, allowing him to relax onto the floor.

“There will be no trouble, I can assure you of that. Is there anything I can aid you with? Our village is poor, and has little to offer, but I would be happy to support you with what we have.”

“We need nothing material. I want information.”

“Please, ask.”

“What do you know about the church group that came through here?”

“Do you know about the creature that attacked that girl?”

Efrain and Innie said at the same time. The pair looked at each-other, the cat frowning at him for speaking over her. Finally, he relented.

“The creature that attacked that girl… Shyana was it? They’ve been destroying nature all over the valley. Dead pines, with claw marks in them. They leave black crystals in their wake. Do you know anything about them?”

The man frowned and stroked his beard as he thought.

“I’ve never heard of such creatures, not even in the stories. I’m afraid I’ll be of little help.”

“I’m not surprised,” Efrain said, giving Innie a pointed look, at which she snorted and rolled over to face away from him.

“Now, I heard from your master Giyeth that there was a group of knights in the village. What’s a company doing so far north?”

The man’s face darkened, but before he could even say a word, the door behind them burst open.