It felt like someone had shoved a handful of snow into Kin’s mouth. The news from the injured woman chilled him right to the bone. He was careful as he moved her to the side of the road, being careful of her injuries and bandages as he did. Once he had settled her down, he took off his pack and began to dig for the chain shirt.

“Don’t worry ma’am.” Kin assured her as he pulled the protective garment and one of the undershirts out, “we’ll go and check on your people.”

Nami came into his field of view, running some beeswax over her bowstring. Her luminous sapphire eyes were glittering with anger as she strung the bow. “Guardians help whoever is responsible. Can you tell us anything about the attack? Even the smallest details might help.”

The hurting woman, who looked so small, clutched Kin’s shoulder and seemed to be trying to steady herself. “Monsters,” she finally managed to choke out, “these large dog-like beasts came out of the forest. Their fur was inky black and they were bigger than our guard dogs. I was on the outskirts of the town and thought I could run and get help while the others took shelter. I didn’t count on one of them following me.”

Kin noticed Nami frown at this. “Why did it stop at injuring you then?” She asked, to Kin's surprise.

“It wasn’t going to,” the woman replied, her voice growing fainter as she started to sway. “It was about to leap and I thought for sure I was dead, right before it froze.”

“I see.” Nami’s expression and tone softened. “Sorry, it must have been horrifying. Did you see anything else out of the normal today?”

Kin could feel the strength in the woman’s hand begin to loosen as her eyes struggled to stay awake. “S...shard. The black...shard…” she toppled over unconscious.

Kin and Nami moved her off the road into a hidden spot and then covered the fallen villager with their bedroll. They tucked her in tight to keep her warm. “I worry about leaving her with bandits in the area…” He started and Nami finished his thought.

“But the attack on the village is our highest priority. I wish Kilian and Fronicka were here to watch her.”

Kin took off the leather jacket and his boiled leather tunic. “Me too. I don’t like to leave a helpless person, but she risked her life to get help for her village. We should honor that and see if we can help.”

Nami paced with her arms crossed. The fact that she was not eyeing his shirtless chest spoke volumes of how worried she was right now. Kin slipped on the undershirt and then the chain shirt over top. Once he had settled the armor in place, he covered it with the leather coat for extra protection. Gami had often bragged that a wolf's teeth could not punch through her jacket. It seemed it was time to test that claim.

“Also, even if we cannot fight off the beasts, we have a critical piece of information for the village. The creatures are natural wildlife, tainted by some kind of evil.” Nami stopped her pacing and drew out one of the blue fletched arrows.

Kin placed his pack next to the girl and the shield next to it. “I want to use this, but against monsters, it’s better if I don’t. I am still learning after all. It will weigh me down.”

“Alright. Be careful though. We don’t take any risks. We handle this the way our fathers’ taught us.”

“I bait them, dodging their charge and you shoot them?” Kin began to walk towards the path.

“Sounds like a plan. And promise me,” She stopped him with a hand to his chest. “If I call for a retreat, you will run too.”

Kin reached up and cupped Nami’s cheek. “I do if you also promise to run if I say so.”

“I promise. No matter what happens.” He smiled as she leaned in and their lips met for a brief moment. “Now, let’s go, partner.”

Armed and as ready as they could be, Kin and Nami headed off down the path, ready to help Shore Village.

***

Each step in the direction of the village drove a spike of tension into Kin’s chest. Every small bit of movement in the woods around them caused him to start. Nami had reached over and gripped his hand, which had helped calm him down but his nerves were still on high alert. Soon, they heard the sound of howling canines in the distance, they knew they were close. Nami gave Kin one more reassuring smile before falling back several feet. Kin drew his sword and held it tight in one hand. They continued down the path and all too soon they came upon their first beast. It was the largest canine Kin had ever seen before. Its fur was dark as the night sky and its eyes were burning a sickly blue. Then there were the teeth, so sharp that they made Kin gulp in fear.

The beast was chewing on the body of a rabbit it had caught, the poor creature was already more than halfway gone. It looked up as it heard Kin approach, leaving the corpse on the ground and rose to its feet. Kin was sure the creature used to be a coyote, it had the right body shape. He had fought them before, but that had been with long ashen spears. He would much rather have that than a sword right now. The beast lowered its center of gravity and charged at Kin, roaring as it barreled towards him.

Kin re-positioned, knees wide apart and sword held at the ready. As the shadowy canine approached, Kin pivoted around the beast, which caused it to streak past him. Still, he could feel the force of the creature as it flew by. At that moment, he heard the twang of Nami’s string and the coyote roared as an arrow sprouted from its muzzle. Kin heard Nami curse as her arrow did not find its intended mark.

For good measure, Kin brought his sword around and slashed the beast’s side before he jumped away again. He took a moment to survey the damage and what he saw shocked him. The gash in its side and the arrow in the muzzle bled something that wasn’t blood. The creature seemed to be leaking the same shadowy substance that coated its fur. Within moments of the arrow landing, Kin saw the arrow dissolve completely. He took a moment while the creature was stunned to check his sword, but to his relief, it seemed to be fine. Not a trace of the shadows clung to it. He snapped his full attention to the monster as it shook off the wounds and turned to face him. Once more it charged at him, but that had been a mistake. With its side exposed to Nami, Kin saw an arrow grow out of its right leg and make it stumble. In quick succession, a second arrow flew to the creature’s eye. This caused it to roar out one final time before collapsing onto its side.

The shadows engulfed the entire body and to Kin’s horror, the corpse of the beast, and the arrows were gone. He could hear his partner swearing from behind but she did not move from her spot. It was then that he heard more growls and whirled around to investigate. Two more shadowy monsters were approaching them. He felt a rising panic but did his best to push it down. One of them had been fast and had cost Nami three of her precious arrows alone.

“Kin,” Nami’s voice floated to his ears from his flank, “take one of them. I will distract the other in the meantime.”

Kin wanted to argue but he held his tongue as the two dark canines charged at him. He jumped to the left side and slashed the side of one of the creatures before he ran towards the village. He heard the other beast roar and rush off in the other direction, he was sure Nami had got her mark. He wanted to make sure she was alright, but he pushed back this instinct. She would not appreciate it if he got hurt because of his distraction. He sent his prayers to any of the Guardians that might be listening to keep her safe. Once he had cleared 30 feet from the beast, he whirled to face it once more.

The enraged beast was a lot closer than he expected and he had to twist his body to avoid the jaws of the creature. The beast lashed a paw at him, the claw larger than normal for a coyote. He felt the paw smack into his jacket. The claw could not break through his leather coat but the force of the blow almost knocked him off his feet.

He gasped in shock at the strength of the monster but knew this was his chance and launched a counter-attack. He threw caution to the wind and unleashed three quick cuts with his sword, gripping the hilt in both hands. The beast avoided the first slash by ducking its head but the other two blows landed. He slashed the monster on the right shoulder and then right across the eyes. The lights faded from the creature’s eyes at the slash to the eyes and it released a pitiful cry at the pain. Kin felt a twinge in his heart but he adjusted the grip of his sword and struck the monster’s neck. The monster dropped and vanished in a pool of shadows as it died.

Kin wished he could have taken a moment to catch his breath, but he knew Nami would need him. He looked in her direction and found she had climbed into a nearby tree, the beast trying to jump up and grab her. Kin started in that direction, noting the monster had two marks on its body where Nami had shot it. Six arrows went to whatever that shadowy substance was, it was not a good sign if there were more of the creatures. He could see that Nami was preparing to lose another shaft and he picked up his pace. With a shout of defiance, Kin drove the point of his sword right into the creature’s bottom.

The beast yelped and rushed away from him, gaining some ground. Nami fired as the creature passed, making it once more cry out in pain again. It turned and the look it gave Kin might have felt bad for the beast if he had not seen what happened to the woman earlier. The creature crouched to charge once more when it stopped. There was an ax sprouting from its head.

Kin glanced around for the source of the ax and had to reach up and rub his eyes to be sure he was not seeing things. A huge man stepped out of the woods, he was more than seven feet tall, if not taller, and his body rippled with muscles. He wore leather moccasins and pants, but he was shirtless. Kin could see the large man had scars and muscles across his chest and stomach. The man had a full bread of bright orange hair and wild locks of the same color, he suspected had never seen a comb. He could not tell what the expression was, but his eyes glowed bright red, showing he belonged to their tribe. Finally, Kin’s eyes went to the massive double-headed ax he carried in one hand over his shoulder.

Kin was speechless at the appearance of such a commanding figure for a moment. He managed to regain his voice as the large man walked over to the dissolved corpse, which had left an ax blade.

“H...Hey. Thanks for the help there.”

“What a waste.” The man said with a note of regret in his voice and picked up the ax blade and stowed it in a massive pouch on his side. He then faced the couple, and Kin could see the man was looking not at them but in the direction of the village. “Help the village now, speak later lad.” He stated and strolled off towards the village. Kin looked over at Nami, who seemed as stunned in the man’s presence as he was. He reached out and as she had done for him earlier, grounded her with a quick shoulder squeeze.

“Thanks for that.” She smiled and readied another arrow. “I was not expecting to meet someone larger than your dad.”

“I know, right? Let’s follow him, we need to end this.”

“I’m right behind you, love. Someone has got to pay for making me lose so many arrows.”

Kin chuckled and then two of them dashed to try and keep up with the man’s long pace. He was starting to feel the strain of using the chain shirt for so long. The weight was getting to him and was not sure he could keep dodging. They joined the large figure who had paused outside the entrance to the village. There were four more of the beasts roaming around searching for prey in the deserted village. The ax-wielder lowered his weapon and went to advance when Kin placed a hand on his arm.

“Wait, please. We have information on these things you need to hear before we rush in there.”

An orange brow rose at Kin’s words but the wild-man waited, which Kin took as a sign to proceed.

“We need to find a black shard in the center of the village. It should not be there.”

“I see it,” Nami spoke from his left. “It’s right next to the public meeting tables.”

“Good,” The man's voice was soft, “lass, you shoot that crystal. Lad, we district the beasts.” Kin agreed and readied his sword as he heard Nami draw her string.

“Be careful, Kin.”

“I’ll be alright. May Godfrey guide your shot.” With a nod to the larger man and a wave to his companion, Kin rushed into the village. He spotted the crystal too and something bothered him about it, though he couldn’t place it. He could see the ax-wielder barreling to the left, towards three beasts. Kin figured he better start with the solo one on the right, to keep it from ambushing their flank.

Remembering a trick Alastor had taught them both, Kin took his sword and reflected the light of the sun. He aimed the light into the eyes of the shadowy beast. The creature howled as the light hit its eyes, blinded for a moment. He then took his sword in both hands and slashed twice at its front legs. The monster fell forward and was at Kin’s mercy. He brought his sword up to finish the beast when there was a twang of a bowstring. Kin glanced over in time to see the crystal stabbed into the ground shatter. Seeing it break apart made him realize why it looked so familiar. It was identical to the one Jakob had tripped over back in Rootford.

The beast at Kin’s feet glowed and the shadows pulled away from its body, leaving a normal coyote in its place. The creature rose to its legs and hobbled away. The wounds he gave it seemed a little less pronounced as they had a second ago. He turned to check on the large man and found one of the creatures wandering away from him. He gulped, realizing in that short span, the other guy had cut down two of those terrible beasts. The man walked towards him and a wide grin appeared on his face.

“Good job, lad.” He slapped Kin on the shoulder and knocked him face-first into the ground. He moaned and pushed himself into a sitting position. “My name is Hugh.” The man stated and then turned to Nami as well. “You did well too, lass.”

Nami appeared in Kin’s view and offered her hand to help him up. He took it and she pulled him to his feet. “Thanks.”

“Anything,” Nami replied and smiled at Hugh, “thank you, Hugh, for helping us. We were lucky you came along.”

“A wise man said, it is our job to help our fellow man.” The tall man responded. “It was my pleasure to help.”

Kin looks at Nami who shrugged in response. It was around now that the doors to the villages started to open and heads looked out at the three newcomers. A cheer rose from the houses and some people were quick to swarm the exhausted heroes.

“You saved us. Thank you.” An older man with a beard down to his knees exclaimed. He grabbed Nami’s hands and shook them.

Kin looked at two younger men that came up behind the elder. “One of your people found me and my partner on the road. She has grave injuries but she begged us to come and help. You need to get her as soon as you can, we treated her wounds but she needs an expert to look over her. We stashed her away in the woods.”

“Thank you,” one of them responded, “we’ll go get her right now.” The two started running off towards the road when a large woman called from the door of a big home.

“You idiots. Take supplies and make a stretcher.”

“Sorry, Elder,” the young men turned back around and rushed towards the house the woman had left.

The Elder shook her head as she approached. She had seemed tall at a distance but now standing next to Hugh, she looked small. Her hair was graying but had streaks of blonde still.

The large man beside Kin grunted and then patted his shoulder, much more gentle than before. “I need to go now, lad. Learn what you can and meet me at my hut. It's two miles from here through the forest.”

“Oh, alright,” Kin agreed and Hugh inclined his head at the Elder.

“Ma’am.” He said before he turned and strolled away.

The Elder shook her head. “I will never understand that man, but he is reliable in a pinch. I hope you two are not as shy as he is.” She beamed at Nami and Kin heard her giggle in response.

“Yes, we are much more social.”

“Thank the Lady. Why don’t you two go into my home and rest for a bit? We will talk after we see Ove and prepare him for the final rites tonight.”

Kin felt the sting in his eyes, a reminder that someone had died to those horrible monsters. Nami nodded in consent as she was starting to sway a little. “Thank you, we are both a little tired. We will take you up on that.”

The Elder nodded. “Good. Go into the house and tell my daughter, Kenna, that I sent you. She will see to it your cleaned up and refreshed. I want to give you a proper thank you, but we cannot leave Ove any longer.”

“Of course,” Nami replied, her voice soft and sympathetic. “We understand.”

The older man wrapped an arm around the Elder. “Come on, dear.”

Kin and Nami walked over to the house the Elder had come out of. Kenna turned out to be in her early twenties and had blonde hair like her mother and was as tall. She saw how tired they looked and set about fetching them cider from a large barrel and some bread. After eating, Kin took off the chain shirt and examined the place the shadowy creature had struck him. He gasped as he found a bruise the size of his hand on his stomach starting to form. He heard Nami gasp as she saw.

“Kin, what happened?” She asked, worry dripping in her voice.

“One of the beasts got a lucky hit.” He groaned as he touched the spot. It didn’t hurt yet, but he knew that it would. “I hate to think what it would have done if the jacket and chain shirt had not stopped it.”

Kenna came over and handed Kin a dock leaf covered in a foul-smelling paste. “Here, for the swelling. It will not be pleasant but if you want to move tomorrow, you’re gonna need it.”

Kin took the leaf and pressed the stinky plant to his wound, wrapping some offered bandages to hold it in place. “Thank you. I will handle the stink if it means not hurting so bad.” He wrinkled his nose, it did reek.

Nami stepped back from him, looking like she was about to gag. “Uh-huh. Well, you can sleep alone tonight, smelly.”

Kin put on his best pout but he knew Nami too well to think it would work. She had a sensitive sense of smell, he could only imagine how this was affecting her.

“Let’s move outside, you can set upwind from me.”

“Good plan.” Nami agreed and the two of them headed out to sit at the tables in the center of the village. As advised, Nami sat upwind of Kin. He took a moment to look over the buildings in the village now something wasn’t trying to kill them. To his pleasure, he saw they resembled those of Harvestville. Kin wiped away a tear as the image of their village floated in his mind. Soon the rest of the villagers came back, two of them carried the remains of Ove in a cloth soaked in resin.

“I see one of you got hurt helping us.” The Elder nodded to Kin’s bandage.

“It's a bruise, but thank you for your concern. Sorry, we didn’t get here sooner.”

“Goodness boy, you couldn’t have arrived any sooner unless you were the guilty party.”

Kin looked down at his boots. “I know you’re right,” He said after a long moment of pondering. “But still, it hurts that he had to die and we all lived.”

“Ove is off to the next life.” The Elder said, her voice soothing, patting his head. “We will send him off on sunset of his journey. But if he was here, he would tell you to be proud of what you did. Now, my name is Tove Applebeer, and I am the Elder of this village and this is my husband Folkvar.”

Kin and Nami shared a look. It was Nami who spoke for them, pulling out the letter of introduction. “Well, Elder Applebeer, this letter is for you then, from your niece, Ingrid Applebeer.”

Tove raised an eyebrow but took the letter and read it. “Ah, I see. You’re Kin Hearthstone and Nami Forgewood.” The brow climbed higher. “A Forgewood and a Hearthstone traveling together and not trying to kill each other? That’s not something you see every day.”

“We’ve heard,” Nami responded, her voice dark. “We do not share our kin’s hatred.”

“Yes, so the letter says. I was a girl when your dads up and ran off together in the middle of the night. I thought your granny, Kin, was going to shatter my eardrums with her screams the next morning. Anyways, forgive my surprise. We are thankful that you heeded Ingrid’s request and came to deliver this letter. She wants us to put you up tonight, but we were going to do that anyway since you saved us and all.”

Kin grinned. “Thank you, ma’am. Ingrid also wanted to tell you there have been bandits in the area.”

“Yes, in fact, we suspect it was some of them that planted that shard.”

Kin’s expression hardened. “Can you tell us what you all saw?”

Tove sat down and motioned for her husband to follow. “Yesterday, some of the kids came into my home and told me they saw some strange men coming towards the village. I snuck out the back and got a few of the others that were not out on the lake and we headed back into the village. By the time we got there, the shard was sitting there. It looked so small and fragile, but so dark and evil too.”

Nami pursed her lips. “Is that why you didn’t break it?”

Tove wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. “We worried something would happen if we did. We sent a runner to Heartsville yesterday to fetch a cleric of the Guardians to examine it. But it seems we could have smashed it after all.”

Kin frowned and shook his head. “No, you made the right call. I am certain that our village’s Elder would have done the same in your place. If Hugh had not told us to break it, I wouldn’t have wanted to touch it.”

“Yeah, but I expect that was what they wanted. It would have been pointless to place it and it got smashed before it got to make any of those monsters. I bet they were counting on you not breaking it cause it was so odd-looking.”

Kin got up and paced around, he felt like his skin was on fire as anger burned in his chest. “This is unforgivable. If it was the bandit lackeys of Bjorg I met in Rootford, we need to tell the Doves about this. They could put a stop to this so-called ‘Bandit King.’ There were eight of them today, what about tomorrow?”

Folkvar finally spoke. “We worried about the same thing. We do not have a lot of weapons here, only a few of us know how to fight if wild beasts or bandits come. This goes beyond petty theft and threats. You know the code of the tribe and what must happen now.”

Kin did know, only too well. Execution is the fate that awaits the bandits. “I do.” These were the only words he could manage. He saw Nami give him a small smile, enough to brighten his mood a little.

“Then, Kin and Nami, “ Elder Applebeer spoke, filling her voice with authority. “I charge you to carry our message to the Dove camp at Heartsville. Please, ask them to avenge the blood of Shore Village those traitors dared to spill.”

Nami held her fist to her breasts in a firm salute. “We promise to carry your message Elder.”

Tove’s expression softened and she covered her face with her hands. “Thank you both. Also, please make sure Hugh knows how thankful we are for his help when you see him tomorrow. I suspect I know why he wants to speak with you, and I will pray for you.”

After that, there was not much more to say. Kin could feel the tug of the road on his heart, pointing him towards Heartsville and their next mission. But it would have to wait a little longer.

***

The entire village gathered around the constructed pyre. Ove’s wrapped body sat with reverence in the center of the fire along with his most prized fishing net. Tove handed Kin and Nami torches wrapped in resin-soaked bandages. They lit the torches at a small fire and stepped forward, tossing the torches onto the pyre. Ove’s corpse and the next went up in flames as the people began to chant a prayer to the Lady and Leo the Silver Lion.

“Oh, Lady. Oh, Lion of Fire. Please guide this poor soul on his way to the next life. As our people rose from the ashes of the Dark Wars, so too may his soul rise to be born once more.” Tove chanted as the flames did their work. She then faced the villagers and finished her chant. “We are Phoenixes. There is no hardship we cannot overcome. The Darkness may try to topple us, but we will always spring back. Let us all remember Ove, without his warning, we would have lost so many more friends today. Everyone, let us drink to his memory.”

Kin, Nami, Kenna, and some of the younger kids helped pass out the potent beer from the Applebeer stores. Once everyone had a mug, they all raised them and chanted. “For Ove.” And as one, they all drank.

***

That night, despite what she had said earlier, Nami was in Kin’s bed, hugging him close. They were both reliving the horrors of that day. They heard the beasts howl, and recalled the monsters charging at them. They didn’t speak at first, drawing comfort from the other and the fact they were still alive. After a while of laying there, he heard Nami speak, her voice quiet.

“I was so worried, Kin.”

He looked down at his partner’s small voice. “I understand. I was so worried there would be a larger death count. I’m glad we got here when we did.”

She pushed herself up so she could stare deep into his white eyes.

“Yes, while I am thankful for that, I was also thinking about us too. Those things killed a grown man, Kin. They would have ripped us to pieces if we had messed up…” She broke off as she started crying.

Kin leaned in and caught her lips in a soft kiss. The kiss was wet from her tears but he didn’t care. She pressed herself and sobbed in relief that they were both still alive. He held her and made gentle circles on her back though he too felt the pressure of today on his heart. After a while, Kin felt the fear in his partner drain away and could tell she was sound asleep. Kin sighed in relief and the sight of his lover relaxed calmed him even more.

“Love you, Nami.” Kin kissed her forehead as he whispered to her and soon joined her in sleep.