The next threat was impassable—swarms of wasps so thick you couldn't see the other side. Facing them with pointy sticks was beyond stupid, so they were forced to circumvent the area entirely. Melody might have been able to supply something to take care of them, but avoiding them was less risky and more cost beneficient.

The question on everyone's mind was how their prey managed to drag a boat directly through an insect colony without hindrance. The matching drag marks Prarie Dog found on the other side of the hazard zone indicated that the maniac was either genuinely insane or knew a way to get through unharmed.

None of his actions made logical sense. The image of Bellavarn was a clear sign he was going to attack again, but he was retreating. They were tracking him farther and farther away from the army. Was he returning to his home base to resupply? Why was he keeping the soldier alive?

There was no blood trail, no body parts, and nothing to indicate the soldier was dead or even maimed. That was the best-case scenario, but not a single one of them believed things would be that simple, and Prairie Dog's report made that a bit clearer.

"It isn't fear driving him. These tracks are hurried and appropriately erratic. The footprints—the ones are visible— all have the toes pointing in one direction. He's eager, Ruger."

"Yeah?"

Ruger looked back at his men. They glanced out at the surroundings with eyes wide open. None of them made a noise. It made him crack a toothy smile.

"So are we."

=

Human heads. They decorated the ground and hung from the tree branches. Barren skulls acted as garden gnomes while the skin of the deceased blew like the devil's windchimes.

"Lester"

Mason turned white as a sheet seeing the screaming face of his old friend dangling in front of him. The scar on the chin was unmistakable, unlike how an inner orange glow illuminated the eyes and mouth.

"Lester's a fuckin' lantern. The sick bastard made him into a god damn lantern."

Brick wrenched his brother away from the image. Mason's gaze jumped between the skulls on the ground, wondering which one used to be his friend. Before he'd been skinned, that is.

Uri was left to wade through the ghosts at eye level while everyone else ducked lower. It made him the first person to see what was ahead of them—a red mountain.

"Small mountain."

The dull words focused the group's vision. Mason blinked away what he thought was an illusion. The second moment he whipped around to count their number. Cursing, he smacked his brother's shoulder.

"Ay, what the hell is she doing?"

Melody strode right into the mountain's mouth. The sheer audacity froze all their footsteps.

"Girl's lost her marbles."

"No fear. Uri likes this girl."

"You said that already dum-dum."

"Enough chatter. Get those feet moving; we have a hunt to finish."

They abandoned the illusion of stealth of high-tailed after the girl. The shape of the rock formation might have been unassuming before being drenched in blood. The closer they came to seeing the boney entrance and gazing up at the cliff face, the more they saw recognizable features.

Of course the cannibal lives in a skull.

Uri's height gave him the stride to get ahead of the others. Seeing the stack of bones blocking the entrance spindled the idea to say something cool before breaking through, like, "time to break some teeth," but words weren't Uri's cup of tea. Besides, tea tends to stain teeth, and the word spindle was beyond comprehension at the moment.

The bones broke inward as if by a shotgun blast.

The soldiers assembled inside with weapons drawn. They squinted to adjust to the ambient lighting. Melody stood in front of the group, looking up fearlessly at an altar of gore. A shivering soldier with a blade to his neck. The cannibal clacked his teeth to his gums in beastial communication. He tried to take a nibble, but his head was thrown back by an arrow.

Everyone stared at Basil.

"You really used the magic arrow?"

Basil shrugged. Better to end a fight before it starts.

"Guys..."

Ben still hadn't moved from his spot. His voice quivered in fear.

The group watched the cannibal's head snap back into place, and the arrow pulled from its eye socket.

In that split second, it all made sense. How the cannibal survived both Ash and Jerome. Why he could cross the bear and insects' territory unharmed. And why he survived a magic arrow to the fucking face.

"Flesh Reaper."

The following shriek shook the caves' walls. Spiked wooden logs dangling from the ceiling fell down and disbanded their formation. Eardrums bleeding, they scattered and rolled to safety. Ruger ran for Melody, but she seemed more focused on the lit brazier at the center of the room. Ben screamed bloody mercy as he was thrown backward into a spiked wall. Pinned by his shoulder and gut, he could do nothing but watch in horror as the cannibal's skin dripped away and revealed pulsating muscles so crimson they approached black.

That was the time for a bear to break in.

"Bad bear. Stupid bear. You come to die?"

Uri forgot the shrieking menace behind him and ran to tackle the bear. Basil fired a couple more arrows for shits and giggles, but they bounced off the demon's packed muscles. Its eyes bled black as it leaped from its vantage point. Prarie Dog tried to take a slice at him but got a kick to the gut for his troubles. It sent him flying into Queen and they went down in a tumble. Brick and Mason took up the charge with Lucky while Craps ran for Ben.

Ruger observed the situation and decided they were underequipped to fight an undead demon. Melody tapped him on the shoulder.

"This fire is magical."

She pointed a hand to the too-red brazier. No one was suprised by the blackened bones lining the bottom. Ruger got the meaning and dipped his blade into the foul magic. The fire stuck like sap. Ruger nodded to Melody and charged in to back up his mates.

Melody watched the group address the demon as they did the bear. This foe held some semblance of intelligence or at least battle instinct. One arm was savage, with elongated claws, while the other was experienced with an axe, presumably from its past life. Injuries started stacking up on the veterans despite the way they rotated out.

When Uri once again tossed the wetland creature over his shoulder, it landed on the flesh reaper, and together they barreled over a few logs marking the battlefield. Breathing room acquired, several of them saw Ruger's blade on fire and ran to do the same.

"Craps. What are you doing up there."

"I can't move him. He'll bleed out too quickly."

Craps was the only passable medic in the group. He suffered enough conditions that he accrued the necessary medical knowledge to know dead from kinda-dead.

"Then get down here and help."

Uri felt only pity for the bear as it was torn apart by the Flesh Reaper. The blood that spilled seemed to seep into the Reaper's scorched wounds.

"That's not right."

The beast shrieked louder this time, causing everyone to wince and cover their ears. Ruger needed to push Basil away from another falling log lest it skewers him like a kebab.

Melody looked up at the ceiling with notable calm. Sidestepping a falling log, she proceeded up the side of the cave to a bloody altar. The sounds of fighting raged on as she examined more of the surroundings.

Blood. Guts. Bones. More bones. The smell was awful laced with iron.

A rocky altar drenched in dry blood caught her attention. Apart from the fact that there were clearly magical offerings at its base, a painted image decorated the surface. Brows twitching, she took out a rolled-up piece of paper and compared the portraits.

"Bellavarn."

Her heart beat once. Anger was the emotion.

Down below, the group traded blows. Uri tanked the beast bare-knuckled rather than dirty his blade. Bruises appeared on the beast's chest, swelling, only to heal a second later from the spilt blood around the room. The Flesh Reaper took a sucker punch, and then another before screeching and pouncing on Uri. They rolled on the ground for a tense moment before separating. Ruger looked around and devised a plan to stop the Reaper from healing.

"Swords down, scrape the floor, and draw lines of fire. Burn the blood."

"I think I can do you one better."

Lucky ran to the brazier and placed himself behind it. Lucky waved for his comrades to get out of the way. They assembled on each side, blades of fire sparking against the ground and burning the nearby blood away. The flesh reaper picked the wrong target as Lucky broke a wind talisman. The directed fire blast cast the demon in a deep contrast of wailing shadow.

When the roar of the inferno died out, the creature still stood. Crispy and rasping for breath as its blackened muscles heaved. The soldiers charged.

The Reaper sucked in another mighty breath, howling towards the sky. The shockwave lifted even Uri off his feet and extinguished the magical fire. The last of the spiked logs plummeted, a large one heading right for the demon. It knew enough to get out of the way.

*Shing*

A crossbow bolt pinned its foot. The pain made it scream again, except this time, the hole was plugged.

It was over. The Reaper went limp. Staked and skewered on its own trap.

Melody lowered the magical crossbow. Ignoring the eyes on her, she discarded the weapon back into the pile of offerings. As the others clamored, went about the process of extricating Ben, or examining the loot, Melody walked calmly to the corpse of her enemy. The others thought nothing of it. Brick was the only one paying enough attention to see the damage before the bang.

It was a weak punch—nothing like how one should be thrown. Even still, the shock sent another shudder throughout the cave. Both the skewered corpse and the log blew apart in a show of gore and viscera. The remains splattered on the wall sloppily. Everyone's attention now firmly on Melody, they watched her stomp the few intact pieces in a blind fury.

Ben, off the wall and bleeding staunched, pointed a questioning finger.

"Is she alright?"

"Looks like she's working through some things."

"I told you she had a screw loose."

Mason took a hit from Lucky.

"Shut up. She's the only one who can identify this stuff."

Basil grinned.

"Remember to ask nicely."

Melody stopped stomping, the last of the blood falling off her magical cloak.

Mason's eye twitched.

=

They ended up expending more than they earned. Minus the remedy used to staunch Ben's wounds, the talisman Lucky utilized, and the magical arrow from the beginning of the battle, all they had were a couple magical items and an extra mouth to feed. Ben was extremely grateful, too grateful, and deathly afraid of Melody. He stood on the other side of the room among yellowing bones while she identified the items. Mason did ask nicely after all.

They walked away with a crossbow that was particularly good at pinning, a mediocre talisman of water, and a metal bucket enchanted not to break.

Uri took the bucket, strangely fascinated with it. The crossbow was given to Prairie Dog. The devices were scarce and hard to forge, not to mention enchant. Prairie Dog was the one most often on lookout duty, so his were the best hands. The water rune they figured to keep handy. The army had enough in supply, but an extra was always good to keep around for emergencies.

"Now that's done. We should discuss Melody's destination."

"Escorting her home is beyond our duties, Ruger. We're soldiers, not guards."

"She can handle herself."

"No fear."

"Uri..."

"I am Uri. What is problem?"

"Nothing, big guy. Good on you for using your words."

"You mock Uri."

"No. No, really. I mean it."

"Holy shite, it's like rearing children."

"So depending on her destination, we only have to escort her halfway, right?"

"She's already gone."

The eyes on Queen made him self-conscious. He would kill for a mirror right now.

"Well, shit."

=

The army set food on yellow sand. As the trees fell away, everything became visible. Melody found it straightforward to pick out the singular tent flying the Sallow crest. Witnessing Bellavarn enter the tent caused her cold heart to thaw. It was a mysterious feeling... being able to feel again. And she had no time to decipher that gentle warmth before it began to boil over upon seeing the woman following Bellavarn inside.

The whispered word seethed like dry ice.

"Ester."