Ruyo asked Nusina about the imprisoned evil god, though the spirit was obviously unsettled to think about it. "How much do you remember? I'm sorry to ask, but any detail might help."

"Very little, besides the need to warn people."

Ruyo relayed that. To Nusina she added, "So. We're faced with the chance to tell them everything we know about killing gods."

Nusina's eyes looked at the cabin's floor. "You're proposing to trust people who tried to kill you."

Ruyo told the pair of monks, "There's an obvious conflict of interest here. I don't yet have mighty powers to make the problem go away, but we know something that might help. The question is, how do we know you won't use it against me, too?"

Matthias said, "There's the fact that we've told you about the Unspoken One and our specific problem with it, rather than our having a grievance against all gods and spirits. Do you doubt that if we really worked at it, we'd have a good chance to betray and murder you today? At least, destroying your human body?"

Ruyo backed up a step by instinct. But the monks had their hands flat on the table, not moving. After a moment she said, "I would take some of you with me, but maybe."

"But we're not doing that. You're free to walk out that door. In fact, this might be a good time for a break. Is there anything we can do for you by way of hospitality? If you can relax a little in our village, try answering this question for yourself. Why have we got a village here, and why Witch Hunters?"

Ruyo ran one hand through her hair. "Fine. I'd like a meal that isn't magically created bread. I brought a little iron with me to trade, and I can make more of that or other things if I can fight my way through your anti-magic ward. Also, have you got a healer?"

Matthias said, "Yes. And I'm sorry for asking you to travel, so soon after our attack."

Ruyo waved off the apology. She'd already made someone pay, more than Ruyo would've liked. "I need training, is why. I want to know how to fix people, not just hurt them."

#

The rest of that day, Ruyo said nothing about gods or monsters. Instead she watched a butcher cutting up a freshly killed bull, making herself watch blood and skin and muscle parting under the knife. Then she went to the village smith and gave him what she had, in return for talk about lead and molds. She was surprised to learn there were different kinds of physical strength, even when talking about an inert metal rod. The power to endure heat, freezing, crushing, pulling, cutting, magic, twisting were not all the same. And so there was probably no single perfect material, best at everything. The smith even pointed out the design of a well-made modern bow, combining stretchy sinew on the outer layer and flexing horn on the inside to grant more power to the wood in between. Hearing about that made Ruyo think back to the slain animal, its bones and skin and meat working together in very different ways.

While trying to make more iron for him (and a glass bottle, which he happened to want), she had to push through the dampening effect of the village ward. Nusina, while saying that she wouldn't use the term "dampening" herself, commented that it was good practice. Ruyo compared the use of Flotsam, an unusual divine power, against the use of a conventional spell like Shape Water. The ward seemed to affect ordinary magic more than her other powers, which surprised everyone. That was something to report to the monks; maybe they had a way to retune their artifact to better suppress the Unspoken One.

The main healer was an old woman whose son was her apprentice. Neither were part of the actual monastery, but a monk asked them kindly to help. Ruyo got a very basic lesson from them while sitting cross-legged on their hut's floor. "How much do you use magic in your work?"

"A fair amount," the healer said, causing a faint green light to appear over her palm. "But you need to know the basics."

The apprentice said, "Mother, she has a spirit with her."

Nusina materialized and introduced herself. Both of them stared, but didn't look frightened. Ruyo explained what little they'd been able to do so far for sick and wounded people. "Just showmanship."

The old woman smiled sympathetically. "That's part of any healer's toolkit. Since your talents are with water, let's talk about killing uncleanness in water and bandages and tools."

The lesson was fascinating. Nusina commented, "I feel like I've forgotten something terribly important and basic here, but what she's saying is part of it. Tell her I said to keep experimenting with that idea."

Ruyo did. The apprentice seemed especially interested, though Nusina didn't have more hints for him. Ruyo said, "I have some wounds that aren't quite healed. Can you show me what you do with them?"

The lady looked her over. "It's not like a healer can instantly make you whole again if you're chopped up. But you're recovering well; I can tell because..."

Ruyo listened intently and inspected the blades and drugs the healer used. "One lesson down, and a thousand to go, eh?"

The apprentice chuckled. "You're a quick learner, ma'am, but yes. Flesh is the most complicated material of all to mend, worse even than wood or cloth."

"I was meaning to ask," Ruyo said, "about the history of the village. There were some monks here, and then what?"

The healer said, "It was before even my time. But those men and women have always seemed lonely, like they wanted to teach us all the secrets of the world but couldn't. Why have they taken such an interest in you?"

"They've wanted to find someone with the right kind of magic."

"Magic!" the woman said, and laughed. "No, ma'am. If they're interested in a mage and they're not killing you, it's because they think you can do something good and holy. Not because you can cast the right spell."

"So they're after my good intentions?"

"No. Just your ability to do something good. I get the sense that it matters more to them, than whether you seem like a nice person."

#

Before dinner, Ruyo met with the head of the Witch Hunters in his cabin. That was an uncomfortable visit. But the man in charge offered her his hand and said, "I'm told the sacrifice was worth it."

Ruyo's cheeks burned. "You should have just asked, not tried to test me."

The man's hand dropped. "I did not give the order to attack you. It was Brother Matthias, our saintly leader. He's why you killed one of our own."

"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry it happened that way."

The Witch Hunter went cold and silent.

Ruyo was about to leave him, but paused in the doorway. "Why do you have this gang of people out killing evildoers and monsters? Don't you have enough problems close to home?"

He said, "Do you know how horrible it would be if our lives revolved around what we fear and hate? That's a kind of worship. We don't hire Witch Hunters based on how eager they are to kill evil things."

"I thought that was the point."

He smacked the table beside him. "No, ma'am. If we were slaughtering monsters in a void forever, would that be a good thing? No. I do my job so that I can come back and make love to my wife and carouse with my friends and hug my children and know that none of them will be murdered."

Ruyo bowed her head and left.

#

Outside, Ruyo spoke with Nusina. "I don't think the village sprang up naturally, just because there was an existing farming community that the monks built. They wanted neighbors."

Nusina said, "If the Unspoken One is slowly gaining power, I'd say it's because the monks are devoted to it, even as an enemy. If you could talk the village into cursing your name daily, that would actually empower you."

"Really? Because I probably have a few ex-customers doing that at least monthly."

"As a goddess, I mean, not just as a merchant they resent. And technically the mana you'd receive would be all fouled up, but you could embrace it as a power source."

"Are you suggesting --"

"Of course not!" Nusina said with a huff.

Ruyo ruffled Nusina's ghostly form. "I know you're not proposing that I try being hated! I was going to say, you think the Unspoken One is fated to break out because the monks are afraid it will?"

"Roughly, milady."

Ruyo rubbed her chin. "Then this whole town is here to give them a reminder. Something positive to live for, instead of focusing all their attention on what they loathe. Even the Witch Hunters."

"What does that mean for us, then?"

Aloud she answered, "It means these people really aren't motivated by hate, fear and destruction. They'd only fight me again if they felt they had to. So... I say we tell them what we know, and trade favors."

Nusina considered this. "After dinner?"

"Yes."

#

The town was known not for its zealous confinement of an evil god, but for cheese. Squishy pale cheese, an alarmingly blue-speckled kind, and mighty yellow ones large enough to be wagon-wheels. Ruyo had a little of everything including boiled beef and cabbage and a salad with tart berries and more bits of crumbled cheese. If it didn't count as a divine offering, it should have.

Her dinner companions were a mixed group of monks and farmers who still smelled a little like the cattle they raised, and who'd made the feast possible. Ruyo would have been surprised to see the holy men interacting with the laymen, but it made sense to her now. The monks weren't just being polite, but reminding themselves why their job mattered.

Ruyo tried asking one of the farmers about tending to sick animals, for comparison with people.

The man laughed. "That's not something you'd want to hear about over dinner!"

"Ha, well. I lost a horse recently and he'd been sick a few times. Never knew what to do with him."

The monks at the table mostly just knew her as a favored guest. One of the younger ones said, "I understand you're a combat mage?"

An older one held up a palm toward him. "That's not a good topic to bring up tonight either. Higher Mysteries."

The youngster pouted and said to the farmer, "You see? They hardly tell us anything."

The farmer smiled. "Be glad for honest work and a roof over your head. Miss Ruyo, you're also a trader, right? Think I've seen you around."

"I've been by a few times. I'm bound for Sor's Hill and Averell next so if you've got something to sell or letters to send, let me know."

They all ended up talking about events in the city. "Is it true the Khyberians are attacking?"

Ruyo said, "Attacking? No, but they sent some troops to annoy the nobles for a while. I don't know why."

"But I heard there was a fight...?"

The young monk said, "Oh, I don't get to ask about the fighting."

The farmer snorted. "Sorry. Is there anything it's safe to ask you, traveler?"

Ruyo nibbled her salad. "Let's see. Did you know Baris the ranger is getting married?"

"That I know! Didn't think he'd ever settle down."

Most of the gossip was harmless; springtime trade was starting up again as the west's snowy passes cleared. The gator-men in the northern swampy woods were causing problems again. A monk said, "And Lord Fustini is asking about Lost World ruins again. Thinks we have a complete chart of them. Ah, are you all right, ma'am?"