Sitting down in front of the reports I pick up where I left off. The fourth victim has yet to be found. Apparently they went out in the woods, and never came back. It was assumed to be an animal or bandit attack until three days after they went missing. After this a letter was delivered to the fiancé with the single word xanDorian written in the middle of the sheet. The search teams are still combing the forest but hopes are not high.

Finally the fifth victim was found this morning by the mansion staff. The killer is escalating their timing with the last three all taking place in this cycle.

“If this pattern holds there will likely be a new victim in the next few days,” Shiva sighs

“Likely sooner than that,” I sigh in return, “I assume xanDorian is not something you have heard of before?”

“It is not any of the recent gods, nor is it another spirit that I recognize.”

“Is it possibly an old god, or spirit?” as I am talking with Shiva Iris comes into the room and sits down on the bench next to me with two glasses of wine, one of which she passes to me, and I nod my thanks.

“It is possible, but that era was before my time.”

“So you are unfamiliar with them then?”

“Unfortunately I am. You aren’t thinking it could be that are you?” She asks with obvious concern in her voice, “I really do dislike those monsters.”

“I have no evidence of that yet, but the killings fit the patterns Master told me to watch for.”

“What are you thinking about?” Iris asks from beside me. I look over and raise my eyebrows in a question while I take a sip from my glass. “Well I’ve noticed that when you are thinking your ears twitch back and forth,” she says while putting her hands up on the sides of her head, with her index fingers pointed directly upwards, and she flicks her wrist out to the side and back to a standing position rapidly a few times, “so I was curious what you were thinking about.”

“Just these murders,” I nod at her, as I take another sip from my glass and I turn back toward the table.

“Hmm,” She hums slightly before placing her hands on my cheeks, “Are you feeling all right? You are breathing a bit shallowly, and you feel a bit warm.”

“It’s nothing,” I shake my head as I pull away from her, and she just gives me an unconvinced look as she leans in closer, and I sigh, “I am just a bit cut and bruised.”

“Wait here,” she taps on her cheek before she gets up and leaves the room.

“Anyway, perhaps the killer is making sacrifices to one of the old gods,” Shiva says, while suppressing laughter.

“That is a possibility. I will go to the Circle tomorrow and see if they have any records that survived the war,” I start making plans on how to proceed.

“The other issue is how they are moving about, without drawing attention to themselves.”

I sigh again. I do not know this city well enough yet to have a satisfactory answer, so I repack the reports, and toss them to the other end of the table.

Iris comes back into the room after a few minutes with a bowl in her hands. She sets it down on the table in front of me, and I notice that there is water in it. She then places two bottles, a rag, and a small roll of bandage next to it.

She steps around the table, and sits down on the bench next to me again, “Show me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You wounds, show them to me.”

“That’s not necessary, it’s fine”

“Are you the one with medical training here, I will decide if it is necessary or not after I see the area.”

“It’s only a little scraped and bruised that’s all.”

She sighs and pinches the ridge of her nose “Don’t make me hold you down so that I can examine you.”

“You wouldn’t,” I hiss and slide down the bench.

“I don’t think crying will get you out of this one.” Shiva laughs, “How bad could it be anyway she just wants to help?”

“I have quite a bit of experience handling unwilling Dargoths,” Iris threatens while moving even closer than before, “Now are you going to cooperate or not?”

“Why is this damn bench sitting in the corner anyway?” I sigh and turn my side to her and begin to lift my shirt up past the first couple of ribs.

“That’s a good girl,” Iris sounds like she is coaxing a child as she looks over my side, “What did you do for this to happen?”

“Oh you know fell into a window,” I say. “ssst,” I hiss almost immediately as she runs her fingers along my lower ribs, and I complain, “You could say something before you do that.”

“It wouldn’t help,” she shrugs and looks up at me, “This one might be broken.”

“It is not, broken feels a lot different, it’s just bruised,” I hiss as she runs her fingers over my bottom rib again.

“You are bad at lying about this kind of thing,” Shiva laughs at my discomfort.

“Fine hold still for a bit,” Iris sighs a little, as she pulls the bowl closer and pulls a rag from it that she rings out.

I try not to hiss and move too much as she cleans the area again. When she finally opens the first bottle she picks up another rag and spills a small amount of liquid onto it, after a few moments I catch the scent and realize it is lavender. “What are you going to us that for?” I ask.

“This will likely hurt a bit,” She warns before she places the rag against my lower ribs and begins to rub it.

“Ahhhh,” I gasp, and after a moment of sharp pain she pulls the rag away, and opens up the next bottle, “A bit is a bit of an understatement; and why are you opening a jar of honey?”

“It is good for wounds,” She shakes her head at me, before she laughs, “and does our precious little fox have a low tolerance for pain?”

“How about I bruise a few of you ribs and then rub them?” I threaten as she begins to spread the honey over my scratches, which is actually quite nice and cool, not that I have any intention of telling her that at this moment.

“I don’t think you would,” She looks up at me with a crooked smile, “even if it hurts you know that I know how to help you. Now keep your shirt lifted up all the way around, and put your tails down while I wrap.”

I take a moment to ready myself before complying and moving to the edge of the bench. She begins at my side and pulls it around to my back, where she gives a slight gasp and halts her movements. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes as she surely catches sight of my scars and traces them with her gaze. After an eternity she continues to wrap my abdomen in silence, but I can feel her eyes trace along my back every pass.

“She didn’t mean it like that, I’m sure she was just surprised,” Shiva tries to comfort me, “They are-” Her voice drops off as she still doesn't have the words to comfort me.

After she finishes with the wrap I stand up and start to head to the door as normally as I can. I call over my shoulder, “Thank you, I am turning in for the evening.”

“Wait,” she calls out, “I obviously upset you, and I apologize for that, but who are you really? We have all been living together for a while now, and we barely know anything about you or why you came here. You did something to get assigned to the Wingless, and for some reason Elsie hates you. Then a few months in, you and Melodiana, two fresh blood rookies, get assigned this task.”

Her voice is steadily dropping as she continues, “You have obvious experience in combat, and, from what I can tell, are contracted to a sentient spirit. The scars,” she pauses and gets even quieter,” on your back... I assumed that they were old battle wounds, and i could feel them when i would rub your back but... they are indicative that you have been tortured, and not a small amount either… You have never mentioned where you are from, and have only briefly mentioned a mother. You haven’t even told us your family name.”

“That last one is simple, I don’t have one,” I tell her before I continue to walk out of the room.

“I’m sorry,” I hear her quietly call from behind me, "I just... didn't want to put a gulf between us."

I pause momentarily and rest my forehead on the door frame before sighing while feeling guilty. I logically know that she didn't focus on them out to harm or harass me, and that i am the one that puts up walls to keep others out, but-

“Don’t worry about it,” I finally muster with a shake of my head, before I turn and walk towards my room.