While Plauros itself was a landlocked city, the region was large enough to have its own small harbor town by the name of Greygulf. Yeah get used to it, everything in this region has some form of grey or depression in it. I guess when you can only look forward to seeing the sun once or twice a year, it has an effect on the mind. I can only imagine how much worse it was for the people living in this region under the Demon King’s rule.

I decided to ask our resident Plaurosi Trakban, and to be honest I’m not quite sure what I expected him to say. “Yes, it rains a lot. It gets very marshy, wet, and cold. And yet, it is home,” was all he had to say on the matter. “I would imagine it will be much more pleasant with the vampire out of the way. Perhaps we minotaurs would also be able to find a home with the other civilized peoples of the region. I mean, those of us that remain, anyway.”

Before I had a chance to ask him to elaborate, one of the crew drew our attention to the harbor, where a group of armed soldiers stood waiting for us to make berth. We stepped out onto the dock, and their leader approached, saying, “Who among you is the captain of this vessel?”

Everybody awkwardly looked to me. Which I suppose is fair. After all, I had claimed the captain’s quarters, we were here because of me, and I guess I was making a lot of the decisions, but it still felt unfair. At any rate, I raised my hand. “That would be me, I assume.” I extended the hand for a handshake in a haste. “Ilala Twistfall, at your service. What can I do for you?”

“You can take that sorry-lookin’ tub of yours and go back where you came from!” the soldier snapped. “Port’s closed by order of Lord Adelwulf.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious. He should be dead! The light thing happened which means the Heroes slew the vampire that rules over this place!” Trakban touched my shoulder to get my attention. “What?” I spat.

“The vampire was no lord,” he said. “And her name certainly was not…I apologize, my good man,” he said, turning back to the soldier. “What did you say his name was?”

“Adelwulf,” he answered. “By the way,” he made a quick gesture with his hands, and the soldiers stepped closer, undergoing a gruesome transformation into lupine forms. So they were werewolves. Fantastic. “It occurs to me that there is a bounty placed upon the surviving minotaurs by Lord Adelwulf himself. You see, he’s been very busy ever since he took it upon himself to heal this broken land once Lady Vanita was removed. The rest of you may go, but the minotaur,” he licked his teeth before transforming as well, “is coming with us!”

Before I knew what was happening, he lunged toward Trakban. I drew my new sword and tried to protect the big guy as best I could, but then I smelled something that smelled like burning hair. I don’t think the head werewolf guy noticed that a small fire had started on the tattered remains of his clothing. Before I knew what was happening I heard a splash of…well, what I thought was water before the small flame became a raging inferno.

I looked back onto the ship and saw that one of our crew had thrown a vial of oil onto the head werewolf, while the others drew crossbows and began shooting. It was all a bit much to take in. Even more so when, like a flash of lightning, a reptilian form–Arzias–dove from the deck of the ship, a large battleaxe in hand, effortlessly slashing through another one of the werewolves. “Go!” she shouted, probably unsure of what else to say before cutting down another werewolf. As one more charged her, she somehow unhinged her jaw, biting down on the lycan’s entire skull. She jerked her head to the side, tossing the man over the edge of the dock into the side of the boat, his limp body sliding into the sea.

I guess the werewolves weren’t expecting any resistance, because the remaining handful of them began to hightail it into the town proper. I looked back to where their leader was, only to see that, in a panic, he’d thrown himself into the sea hoping to douse the flames. Before I had a chance to ask what was going on, Trakban had thrown me over his shoulder, sprinting for the exit of this small port town. I wasn’t sure what was going to become of our ship’s crew.

—

Trakban carried me out of the town, Fortuna and Arzias in tow, for quite a while until we made our way into a forest near there. I finally got him to put me down once we were out of sight from the town, and then I finally asked, “Okay what was that all about? I knew that minotaurs aren’t popular, but I wasn’t expecting an advocate for genocide as soon as I got here!”

“I cannot answer that question,” Trakban began. “When I left…when we were still living under the vampire’s rule…my people were mostly ignored by the people living here. We had our lands and our culture, they had theirs. There were some clashes throughout history, but nothing quite so extreme that would necessitate open war from another faction. I have no idea what could have changed that.”

From off to the side, I heard an eldelry female voice say, “I believe I can answer that question.”

I turned to see where the voice came from, only to be met by a man in a hooded cloak with his face covered saying, “This way, strangers,” in the sort of raspy voice you’d expect from a back-alley merchant of some kind. He led us deeper into the woods, to the point that I was beginning to question why we were following him. The already-dim light that peeked through the clouds gave way to a much deeper shade under the forested canopy.

I finally asked, “Where are you taking us?” to which the man offered no reply, merely beckoning us to keep following him.

The same elderly woman’s voice rang through the woods. “All will be explained once you arrive in our village. Worry not. You will be safe with us.” The voice then faded away, chuckling. Ominously. Because of course the place with the vampires and werewolves would also have spooky disembodied old voices. I mentally prepared myself to meet a witch or something to that effect.

Deeper, deeper into the misty woods we went, following a path that seemed completely random for lack of a better way to describe it. I could have sworn we were going in circles for about ten or fifteen minutes given how many lefts and rights canceled each other out. With each pass of what seemed to be the same tree, the same boulder, the same oddly-shaped stone structure, I honestly thought this old man was pranking us. But it also dawned on me that, even if I were to turn around and try to leave, I had no idea which direction would take us out of the forest. For better or worse, we were at this guy’s mercy.

I looked off to the sides, surprised to see that there was actual wildlife in these woods. I thought I saw a deer through the trees. Different species of birds flew from tree to tree. I’m sure if I looked closer I’d see various bugs, lizards, frogs, and so on, but with the pace we were making through the trees I had no chance to analyze things as much as I’d have liked.

Eventually the trees opened into a small clearing populated with a handful of small shacks—a village hidden in the forest, something I wasn’t expecting to find so quickly. Not to worry, proper care has been taken to avoid giving out any information regarding how to reach the village to preserve their privacy. Not like it matters because I couldn’t tell you how to get back in there without a guide anyway. And no, there’s no hidden solution like north, west, south, west, or walking in a straight line until you pass the same stone five times. I checked. I guess it’s not that kind of spell.

Anyway, we were directed to enter the largest house in the village, no doubt the home of the village elder. As we entered the house, the old man finally spoke again, saying, “Please remove your shoes and boots.”

Fortuna spoke up, “Why, is it some ritual thing like the way you brought us through the woods?”

“No,” the same elderly female voice rang through the house. “I just don’t want you tracking mud through the house. You saw how much rain this place gets. Please, do enter, though.”

“Is anything else needed, Elder?” the cloaked man asked.

“This should be fine, Edgar,” the voice responded. “You may take your leave.”

The man bowed. “Very well. Be at peace.” He then left us in the entrance of this house. I was surprised to see it even had an entrance hall, let alone any extra rooms.

The voice continued impatiently, “Well come on, I don’t have all day. Get in here!”