Reud walks along the packed dirt road leading towards the centre of the village, Bo at his side, forcing himself not to run back to check on Lilia. He’d never hear the end of it if he returned to her without at least trying to find them some work. She was right though, he couldn’t keep following her around everywhere.

Stopping beside one of the houses, Reud draws in a long breath, letting the chill morning air fill his lungs. The sound of animals mingles with the faint chatter of conversation as the village wakes. The soothing sounds of life. Sounds long missing from his life in the depths of the Srinaber ruins.

Reud can’t help but let a smile spread across his face. It’s almost as if he was the one resurrected, instead of Lilia. In his minds eye he can see his path, once straight as an arrow, now splitting off into a myriad of possible futures. With her in his life again, anything is possible.

A pang of hunger raises him from his thoughts. I guess it has been a while since I last restored myself. Closing his eyes Reud focuses in on himself, feeling out the mana that infuses every part of his body. The world fades away around him, leaving only the mana, his body looking like a constellation of stars against the backdrop of blackness. From his core stretches a thread of mana, far to the north, deep below Srinaber. Touching this thread he commands it to perform its task, and a pulse of mana rushes along it in response.

The pulse slams into his body and reshapes it, using the template carried along with it. Immediately, his hunger vanishes, along with his fatigue, and the thirst he didn’t even realize was building. Restored back to the state he was in when he cast the spell centuries ago.

Back then, when he finally got to the point of attempting the spell, he was old. Fast approaching a century, shrivelled and decrepit. His face lined with wrinkles, a back so hunched he had to crane his neck to look ahead. Not the form he wanted to spend the rest of eternity in. So he’d turned his hand to biomancy. He didn’t have an affinity for that school of magics, and using magic from outside your affinity was exceedingly difficult, but he’d tried nonetheless. The results were… imperfect. Leaving him with a perpetual dull ache in his face, and colourless skin and hair. It was, however, good enough. And now this was the form that he was restored to each time he triggered the spell.

Reud opens his eyes again, and sets off into towards the village centre. That would be the best place to seek out any outstanding adventurer work. The path opens to the village square, a large open area bordered by tightly packed houses. A few children play to one side, chasing each other with sticks, a large hound bounding along behind them.

The sound of hammering fills the air. A large man, his back turned to Reud, is working on one of the houses. To his side lies a broken window shutter. Reud heads towards him as the man tears a rotted board from the shutter and replaces it with a pristine one.

Stopping close to the man, Reud clears his throat. “Excuse me, my good man.”

The man entirely ignores him, continuing to hammer away. Now that Reud is closer, the man’s face is more visible. A bushy beard covers his chin, and thick eyebrows hide his eyes.

Reud rocks back on his heels, clasping his hands behind his back. If he had anything, it was patience. He was more than willing to wait him out.

It only takes a few minutes for the man to finish repairing the shutter. Straightening, he hefts it onto his shoulder, then up to mount it into the hinge brackets attached to the wall. He gives it a few test swings before slamming it shut. Stroking his beard he finally turns to Reud.

“You’re a patient one, I’ll give ‘ye that.” The man says, looking from Reud to Bo’s skeletal figure. “So you’re the slayer of Telac.”

“My name is Reud, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Grym, carpenter at your service. How can I help my lord?”

“I was hoping to find some adventurer work, do you have any idea where around here I could do that?”

Grym scratches his beard. “Adventurer work? It’s been over a year since the last time one of you sorts came around here. You’d be wanting to speak to the Mayor, over there.” He points to a large house on the opposite side of the square. “I’d advise you to be careful though, round here there isn’t much love for mages.”

“Why is that?”

“The Seekers come through here a lot, the last time was only a couple months ago. Sometimes they just snoop about, ask some questions about where people came from, who their parents were. Other times they do some sort of test on the kids, then snatch one away. Last time it was the young twins Marla and Vorlo. They take a kid every couple of years, claiming they awakened to the affinity.” Grym’s meaty hand clenches into a fist. “I know you ain’t a Seeker my lord. You ain’t got the self-righteous look, if you’ll pardon me saying. But there are others who won’t make the distinction. All they’ll see is another child snatcher, here to seek out more victims.”

Reud nods slowly.

Grym continues. “I’m sure people will warm to ye’ soon enough, if you start ridding us of some of the beasts. Just wanted to warn you before you go pesterin’ others around Littlestream.”

“Thank you, Grym. I’ll keep that in mind.” Reud says.

Grym grunts in response, then turns to pick up his tools. “I need to get back to my workshop. Welcome to the village, my lord.” With that he strides off.

Reud watches him go, turning what the man said over in his head. Children taken by the Seekers? That must mean they showed signs of mana affinity. A mana affinity is rare, less than one in a few thousand people are born with it. Affinity is much more likely in a child born to a mage bloodline. Some of the noble lines, tracing their lineages back through dozens of generations of magic users, had one in four of their young scions born with the affinity.

Out here, however, in the middle of nowhere, with no strong historic ties? For a single child to be born once a decade with an affinity would be a miracle enough. For enough to be born that the Seekers can take one every couple of years, and even two in a single year? That speaks to more. Extremely curious.

Reud mulls the problem over in his head as he walks to the Mayor’s house. Just as he reaches the door it opens, and a man ducks out, tugging a floppy hat into place.

“Good morning, Mayor Graham.” Reud greets him. Graham spins around in surprise to take Reud in. The man looks exhausted, great bags under his eyes speaking to a sleepless night.

“Good morning my lord…” Graham pauses. “Reus?” He eventually says.

“Reud.”

“My apologies, my lord, sleep didn’t come for me last night.” Graham smiles weakly. “I hope your stay was more restful.”

“Adequately so, thank you. I actually came to inquire into whether you had any adventurer work available.”

Graham looks surprised. “Adventurer work? That is… unexpected.”

Reud frowns. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no, of course not.” Graham hurriedly responds. “It’s just that we haven’t had anyone looking to do any such work come since last spring. We’ve been needing to request Aldsville for the aid of their so-called ‘Beast Slaying Band’ to help us. However, the cost keeps increasing, and they keep adding more requirements. The latest of which was setting my daughter up for a date with the son of their Mayor.”

Graham trails off for a moment.

“What I mean to say is, I would be happy to give you some adventurer work. However, I’m afraid we can’t pay that much. It has not been a profitable year.”

Reud waves a hand. “That’s understandable, and I’m sure we can come to some sort of non-monetary arrangement to cover the shortfall.”

Graham narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by non-monetary? I’ll say it right now, I will not allow my daughter to be included in any way again.”

Reud smiles. “I wouldn’t think of it. No, what I want is information.”

“Information? Oh, of course, information.” Graham looks relieved. “In that case I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”

Reud sticks out his hand. Graham looks at it in surprise.

“Do you not want to hear what the request is before you agree to it?”

Reud shrugs. “No matter what it is, I have complete confidence in my abilities to complete it.”

After a moment Graham grasps his hand in return. “I can respect that. In that case, for five crowns, I would like you slay a beast that has been raiding our livestock. The beast has slaughtered numerous oxen, destroyed part of a barn, large stretches of fences and crops, and injured a farmer. I fear it’s getting bolder and that it’s only a matter of time before some deaths occur.”

“Do you have any idea what the beast looks like?”

“The man who was attacked, Darren, has been delirious since he was found, raving about great horses and spiralling horns. I’m afraid our healer believes his wounds have festered, and his mind will take some time to return.”

“Has there been no other sightings?”

“The beast only strikes at night, when everyone is within the village.”

Reud frowns. “So how did the farmer get injured?”

“The beast seems to have a particular taste for Darren’s oxen. He hid out in his barn a few days back to try to spot the beast. A foolish plan, if he had informed me beforehand I would have clapped some sense into him.” Graham lets out a long sigh. “It would be a great weight off my mind to have this problem dealt with, my lord. The problem with Telac is hard enough.”

“I’m not fully up to date with the politics; what is likely to be the fallout from that?”

“It’s not good, my lord. Telac has had the rights to tax this province for nearly a decade. He was a cruel man, but he had the law on his side. Duke Hosta does not take kindly to any sign of insubordination. Especially from commonfolk. The news will eventually trickle back to him, within a few months at most.”

Graham pauses briefly to rub his forehead.

“Who knows what he will do once he knows? He may send a subjugation force here to put us in our place. He will likely retaliate against your family too. Speaking of family, my lord, what family do you come from? I may be able to warn them.”

“Ashm-” Reud stops himself before blurting out the name. The old pain aches in his chest when he remembers the fate of all those who had once shared his name. Brutally slaughtered by the butchers from Lightire, stamping out any chance of Rudase rallying under the banner of a sibling of the ruling house. No, it’s best not to share his name. At best this man would find nothing when he looked for them, at worst it would gain the attention of anyone in Lightire who knew their history.

“We are estranged, so do not concern yourself with them.” Reud finally responds. “Be assured I will take full responsibility if the Duke’s men come asking.”

“I can’t let you do that!” Graham protests. “I owe you far too much, protecting my daughter as you did. No other noble I have met in my fifty-six years of life would have done something like that. I will always be in your debt.”

Reud bows his head in response. “You should thank my wife, not me.”

“I thank you both. So I cannot let you take the fall for Telac. Dealing with him should have been my duty as a father…” He trails off.

Reud places a hand on the man’s shoulder. “You cannot blame yourself. The law failed you, letting the strong subjugate the weak. There was nothing you could have done without simply being killed. This way you are still alive to support your daughter.”

Graham smiles at Reud. “Thank you, for your kind words.”

Reud continues. “I will also hear no more about taking responsibility. If the Duke comes, I will handle it.”

Graham bows his head. “Of course, my lord.”

“Now, point me towards where this beast was last seen. I’m fascinated to find out what sort of creature it is.”