Cleatus tracked Timothy into the marsh and to an isolated area. He paced in a circle, combing through the fur on his chin thoughtfully until he picked up a little handle from the mud and pulled open a trapdoor. The party descended the ladder into darkness.

Cleatus pulled out a torch and lit it. Though it didn’t illuminate anything interesting. Just muddy walls. The hall became filled with the sound of ominous chanting. The party made it to the end of the hall as the chanting stopped suddenly. Cleatus yanked out his bow and darted into the large stone room. Four hooded figures stood around a candlelit summoning circle. Cleatus shot the first one. Killing him instantly. Timothy stood at one end of the circle.

“Don’t stop chanting brothers! It’s almost complete!” He commanded. Odelia ran forward smashing one of the summoners to the ground. Shaynen ran past her darting halfway into the summoning circle and then vanishing in a shower of golden sparkles and reappearing in the next second behind Timothy. Shaynen smashed at Timothy’s knee, dropping him to the ground. Then with his staff, he cracked Timothy’s necka nd he fell to the ground, not moving.

Haagut rounded the corner. He looked at the summoner Odelia was wrestling with and raised his hand and bells rang. Cleatus raised his bow and shot at the last standing summoner who dodged the arrow. The circle began to shake and tremble.

“Shaynen!” Cleatus roared while pointing at the last summoner. Shaynen looked up from Timothy’s dead eyes in pale shock. He’d never killed anyone before. He repressed the image and ran at the last summoner. Trying to shove him over but the summoner caught him and tossed him back.

The circle lit up. The summoner Odelia was wrestling with threw her off. He got to his feet as fire burst out of the circle. With it was a large shadowy demon with large wings.

“Well done my children.” He spoke. He snapped and the two remaining summoners burst into flames and disappeared. “And who are the rest of you?” His eyes settled on Shaynen unsettlingly.

“We should go,” Odelia whispered. Haagut nodded. Cleatus snuck over and in a single motion separated Timothy’s head from his body and then ran for the exit. Shaynen got to his feet, trembling.

“Don’t be stupid!” Odelia turned and ran.

“Run, fool!” Haagut ran. Shaynen didn’t run. He couldn’t. Visions of what havoc the demon could cause brought him courage. The demon charged at him. Shaynen drew in a breath and prepared to fight.

Shaynen’s attack passed right through the demon as it vanished into a puff of smoke. But Shaynen still felt the impact in his chest; knocking him back. He could feel something wrong crawling about in his chest and settling there. He turned and retched. He fumbled about until he grabbed the holy symbol at his waist.

He pressed the dreamcatcher to his chest and called upon his spirit to purge the vileness from him.

But nothing happened. Shaynen curled up. Holding the dreamcatcher tightly.

“It can’t hurt anyone this way,” He rationalized quietly. “In a way… it might be the best thing.” His thoughts turned a little bitter as he thought about how he’d been left behind. He got to his feet and collected his things. Storming down the hall.

Cleatus was nearly at the top of the ladder. Odelia just began to climb and Haagut reached the end of the hall when Shaynen caught up.

“What the hell?!” He yelled. They all turned with wide eyes and pale faces.

“What happened?” Odelia called.

“I dealt with the demon! What the hell?! You guys just left me!” Shaynen yelled. “You bunch of cowards would let something like that just run wild near a town? No. Wait. Let me guess.. It’s not your problem.”

“That’s about the size of it,” Cleatus said. He climbed up out of the trap door. Odelia shrugged and left as well. Haagut narrowed his eyes at Shaynen who glared back.

“Sometimes.” Haagut said. “You should be wise enough to run, so you can return stronger. As well as alive.”

“Return to what? A couple hundred innocent lives lost?” Shaynen snapped. He shoved Haagut out of his way and climbed up the ladder. Waiting for Haagut to get up before continuing to chastise the party for being cowards. Quieting down only when they reached the town again.

They entered the town hall for the last time. It was filled with the townspeople, all of them with food and smiles. The room was buzzing with noise. The Governor walked around the crowd and brought the party into the kitchen to speak privately.

“Is it done?” The Governor asked.

“Yes. Killed three other cultists that summoned a demon.” Cleatus dropped the bag containing Timothy’s head to the ground. Shaynen felt his skin crawl and his stomach flip. He looked away.

“What happened to the demon?” The Governor asked worriedly. The party slowly looked over to Shaynen.

“I dealt with it.” He said numbly.

“I see.” The Governor nodded. He cleared his throat and brought out a burlap sack that jingled with coin. He handed it to Cleatus whose eyes went wide. Shaynen tapped his shoulder and gave him an expectant look. Cleatus growled and opened the bag. The coins were already separated into smaller bags for each person. Cleatus handed out the bags begrudgingly. With his bag, Shaynen nodded and left the town hall. He walked through the town to the library where Gregory was sitting with his ledger. He looked up in surprise at Shaynen.

Shaynen walked up to his desk and placed the bag of gold onto the desk. Gregory opened the bag and his jaw dropped.

“Distribute that, the best you can.” Shaynen said.

“R-right.” Gregory nodded. “It’s… thank you. So much.” Shaynen gave a small smile and left. He hesitated walking down the road, wondering how long he’d travel until he met up with another large group.

“Shaynen!”

He turned and saw Odelia with Cleatus and Haagut approaching.

“Thought you’d already left.’ She said. “Governor said we should head to the Hill of Lost Souls. Some kinda cult activity there.” Shaynen stared at the group confused but shrugged.

“First we should head towards Loudwater. I have business there,” Cleatus said.

“Where’s that?” Shaynen asked.

“In the opposite direction. Near the High Forest.” Cleatus said.

“Oh! That’s where I’m heading!” Shaynen said.

“Okay. Great… Let’s go then.” Cleatus said awkwardly.