Kip stood in front of Derrol’s hunters, hands on his hips and head held high as they glared it him.

“’T’ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of. This ‘bald-chinned’ youth is a Cap’n after all.” He said smugly. “Ya shouldna been so surprised I could find a clue before y’all!”

“Simmer down, Kip.” Derrol said as he approached. Rael followed behind him silently. “How about you tell us what you found once we get Shieldmaiden Edith and Dragonward Rael here.”

Rael cleared their throat and Derrol nearly hopped out of his skin.

“Xyatheal’s maw, Rael! When are you going to stop sneaking around?”

“Sorry,” Rael awkwardly apologized, “it seems like Ruen still has some influence over me.”

“Aye…never mind, don’t apologize for that.” Derrol looked over Rael’s abashed face and hummed. “Just try to keep conscious about your memories and that of the other Dragonwards. You shouldn’t apologize constantly for the gifts that were forced upon you.” As he talked, one of his hunters waved over Edith, the hulking woman approaching with a scowl that hadn’t left her since she talked to Greem.

“This better not be a ‘we haven’t found anything’ report. We’re not Bergin.”

“No, Shieldmaiden.” Kip stood tall before deflating a bit. “Well, technically…”

Edith growled, and Kip began explaining.

“Normally, there ain’t no tracks. Not even from a swamp vole. Somethin’ happened here, and all them critters just up an’ left. That means one of two things: fae foul play or human foul play.”

“Neither of which is important right now.” Edith grunted.

“Sorry, sorry, movin’ on.” Kip grabbed a stick and began tracing a model of the town in the dirt. “The hunter found nothin’ so I got to thinkin’, what if we look for nothin’? When we use the spell [Detect Beast Habitat], we get the direction and distance of an animal’s territory. If ya don’t do it right, by imagining the animal or holding somethin’ that connects to it, ya jus’ sorta drown in all the information.”

“But not here.” Rael understood, Kip snapped his fingers at them and smiled.

“Yeah. When I cast the spell on the west side, nothin’. But on the east side, I could tell there were still animal territories around here.” He drew some lightly curving lines a few dozen meters from the town. “So, I moved south ‘n cast again. And again. And again.” With every sentence, he drew another curved line, until it was clear that it was the arc of a near-perfect circle.

Edith’s scowl shrunk. “Do you think we could find whatever caused this at the center of the circle?”

“I think it will give us answers.” Kip scratched his head. “Maybe not the answers we want.”

“It does fit.” Derrol stroked his beard. “The first disappearance was a hunter who regularly hunted westwards, and the capricorn pastures were southwest of here.”

“And now your boats are moored in that direction.” Rael mumbled, but their statement was heard nonetheless. The realization caused the Faulk to stand up straighter.

“Then we best hurry and get to the bottom of this.” The Shieldmaiden whistled, getting everyone’s attention. “Derrol, you and your men stay here. If we’re not back by nightfall, take the villagers with you and keep heading towards the Althing.” Derrol nodded and gathered his men. “Kip, your men and Rael are with me.”

“Wait, what?” Rael shook their head. “I’m not leaving Az behind!”

“Do you want to bring Azmond with us to danger, or leave him safe with Derrol and the skalds?” Edith rose an eyebrow.

“Neither.” Rael crossed their arms, ignoring the whispers of the onlooking Faulk. “I need to keep him safe. Derrol is strong, but the skalds…”

“And I need to solve this problem.” Shieldmaiden Edith approached Rael and stared down at them. “I’ve already deprived myself of a brilliant tactician and fighter to keep the village safe. I’ll need every fighter I can get, and normally you’d be barely passable. But your water-based spells mean you can deal a lot of damage so close to the swamps.” She leaned in close. “Unless you’d like to fight me to get out of this situation?”

Rael grumbled, biting a finger. As it was, either they went with Edith or they were dragged, bruised and bloody, towards unknown danger.

“Fine.” Edith grinned and Rael continued. “But I want someone to be protecting Az.”

“Reasonable. Jasp!” Edith called out. A man, about as old as Kip, came forwards. “Make sure the Scaled boy is safe.”

Jasp nodded and was about to turn away before Rael grabbed him by the shoulder.

“If he gets so much as a scratch while I’m gone…I will hurt you.” Rael made it clear from the tone of their voice that this was promise. Jasp shivered and nodded.

As the group set out into the deathly silent forest once more, Kip nudged Rael in the side.

“You didn’t hafta threaten him.”

“Hrm.”

“I’m serious. Y’gotta ease up.” Kip leaped over a small creek, extending a hand to Rael. They ignored him, jumping by themselves to the other side. “This is what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.” Kip murmured as other Faulk clasped hands to help one another across. “Even on the ship, you jus’ do your duty, then slink off t’ be with Azmond. You don’t sing along with us as the ship sails, you don’t laugh with us as we eat…”

“I don’t know the words of your songs, and I’m not a fan of your jokes.” Rael kept focused on Edith’s back as she led them deeper into the forest.

“That’s a load of hooey.” Kip scoffed.

He was right. Whenever they sang, magic was cast so that the lyrics would spring into their minds and a rhythm would be maintained. Worse yet, Faulk humor was crass and sardonic. Rael had to bite their tongue to stop from singing along or laughing at their jokes. Their food, their good cheer, it was almost enough to make Rael forget the stories they’d heard of the Faulk. It was especially annoying when people like Kip tried to insert themselves in Rael’s life. Rael knew better than to need anyone now.

“Ease up on them.” Edith turned her head just enough to give Kip the stink-eye. “It takes time for foreigners to get used to Faulk ways.”

“Aye, Shieldmaiden.” Kip averted his gaze.

There was a pregnant pause as the group marched behind Edith. Interest piqued, Rael finally broke the silence.

“You speak as if you have experience.”

“Not me, but my father.” Rael could hear a subtle grin in her voice, the same type of smile she’d have after every spar. “He was what you would call a knight, who ended up in Faulkie lands through one of his many adventures. He lost his leg and settled down with my mother after a decade. He would always tell me of how difficult it was to acclimate to Faulkie.”

Edith came across a larger river, which no doubt flowed from smaller creeks upstream. The Shieldmaiden scratched her chin, her eyes lighting up when she spotted a tree leaning precariously over the river. Beckoning for help, Rael, Kip, and a few others pushed together to uproot the tree, its trunk hitting the other side in a crackle of leaves and broken branches. Looking no worse for wear, Edith continued.

“My father told me how other people feared the Faulk because they attacked without warning, without reason. It was in his twilight years that he admitted that the Faulkie were more honest with themselves. We raid for riches, for food, for weapons. When another country needed something and wasn’t willing to trade for it, they had to find reasons.” Edith chuckled darkly. “Then, it was no longer about getting land for more fields of wheat, or gold to fill coffers. It was about avenging some poor sod, or reclaiming ancestral lands, or righting whatever wrong they could imagine. Suddenly, taking what was someone else’s became justified.”

The line of warriors behind her had long since fallen silent. With the dead quiet surrounding them, it was almost as if the trees and quieted all the inhabitants of the forest but the soft wind and babbling brooks to hear her.

“The powerful would send their young, their infirm, their old, with nothing more than rusty spears and swords. The lucky would fight side by side with the actual warriors, whereas the rest would be shepherded with iron in their backs. Then they’d kill each other, turning the dirt beneath their feet into bloody mud. At the end, the powerful nobles, kings, and emperors would wreath themselves in silk and silver, thanking their thralls with scant copper and gilded words. The survivors return home, crippled or catatonic, jumping at the sound of clanging steel and the tinkling of magic. They fall asleep restlessly beneath Arafell’s gaze, needing to believe the lie that it was all for something greater than themselves.” Noticing the silence, Edith shrugged. “Or so my father told me.”

The rest of the hike went on in silence until they found what they were looking for. They almost missed it. It was only when one of the heavier warriors slipped through a patch of grass that they found it. A burrow had been dug from a sandy beach on their left into the dirt cliff they stood on. Overlooking a placid estuary that snaked out into the sea, the briny smell that clung to their noses lacked the pungent smell of rot. It was as if there was no life in these waters.

The group slid down the side of the cliff, looking over the yawning burrow. The hole was a good three heads taller than Edith and was wide enough for three to comfortably walk abreast of one another.

‘I wonder which unlucky three will go inside the cave?’ Rael couldn’t help but think.

“Kip, Rael, you’re with me.” Edith called. “We’re going to lure out whatever’s in there.”

‘Typical.’

Edith and Kip’s Tome-warriors appeared behind them, as Rael’s own Tome slid out of their chest and into their waiting palm without a wince. The pain wasn’t as fresh or as sharp, but a dull thrum remained as it passed through Rael’s heart.

“Do y’all have a spell to help with visibility?” Kip asked as they stared into the tunnel sloping into darkness.

“[Minor Light].” Rael flung a small orb of light into the burrow, its soft blue light floating ten paces ahead of them. As they entered, Rael couldn’t help but glide their hand across the smooth sides of the cave, the light glistening across some sort of hardened resin.

The cave went deeper, the yellowish resin sparkling in the dim light. It caught the attention of Kip, who lightly tapped against the material as he frowned curiously.

The gentle tapping of boots echoing down into the dark as the mote of light bobbed to match Rael’s pace was all there was until they found an alcove. Inside, shovels and picks leaned against boxes on compacted soil and stone. For a few seconds, the three breathed in the smell of earth and moisture, which had faded away as they dove deeper. Edith approached the boxes, motioning for Rael to bring their light closer. The light bobbed right in front of her, revealing a crateful of chipped fragments of the resin. When she brought it up to the light, it twinkled like a yellow star. Edith and Rael turned sharply when they heard Kip gasp. In another box were scattered torcs, earrings, and two red flags. Kip held up the flags for Edith to see, when she swiped it from his hand and looked closely at it, running her fingers through the fabric with a scowl.

‘I guess Greem wasn’t as incompetent as we thought.’

A few moments followed where Edith (quietly) stomped around angrily, looking over the shovels, picks, and boxes for any more clues. She gesticulated wildly in handsigns to Kip, but the captain only responded in tentative shrugs and sloppy handsigns of his own. Rael recognized a few from Ruen’s memories. Not enough to understand, considering Ruen’s knowledge was centuries old. Edith’s expression was easy enough to comprehend, though. She was livid and wondering if she should kill anybody she finds further in the tunnel.

After Edith calmed down, she begrudgingly beckoned Kip and Rael to follow her deeper. Kip grabbed some of the torcs and the flags, avoiding Edith’s glare. The tunnel sloped further down into the darkness, curving slightly. After a few minutes, Rael recognized that whatever made the burrow was digging in a leftwards corkscrew. Slowly, the humidity began to fade until all was left in the air was the cold darkness and the subtle smell of sulfur. Until they heard it.

CRUNCH.

The sound of gnashing stone followed by some sort of squelching and groaning. It reminded Rael of the sounds their father would make after a long night at the tavern. The gurgling and spewing of bile would wake a young Raela from the darkest hours before dawn, her father lumbered about the house in a drunken stupor. This time, no curses followed the echoes of a body painfully digesting its meal. Edith and Kip steeled their gazes, unsheathing their axes.

CRUNCH.

It was louder this time, the roiling grumbles accompanied by some terrible grinding and eventually the drip-drip of some viscous liquid. Rael let the light stay behind them as they slowly turned another spiral of the corkscrew. Yet there was nothing there, the tunnel continuing its gentle slope downwards.

CRUNCH.

The soft blue light behind them cast long shadows on the amber walls, a sharp fissure reflecting oddly into Rael’s eyes. They approached it, trailing an index finger down the circular cracks, noting the dusty brown substance along the edges. Something round, about the size of a cantaloupe, had hit the resin with incredible force. From the dried blood coagulated in the cracks, it seemed like it had gone through something…or someone. Rael dismissed the light source, standing close to the Faulk warriors and casting their [Detect Life] spell. The cavern lit up in Rael’s mind, the resin subtly emitting light as if it were alive. Not enough to blind, but enough to block any view of what may have been ahead.

CRUNCH!

The crack of breaking earth echoed through Rael’s skull. It was around the curve that Rael spotted a massive pile of flesh, contorting and spasming to slow heartbeat. Sharp scales the size of dinner plates chittered against the oblong shape, a dark ring of flexing muscle pulsating at the tail end. Stubby legs ending in sharp claws pushed the mass deeper down as tendrils sprouting from its back licked the sides of the tunnel, coating it in the resin. Drooping at the front was an atrophied humanoid torso with the head of a vulture, its loose skin sagging and peeling…until its milky eyes spotted them. Rael’s heart thundered in their chest, cold sweat ran down their back. Their free hand reached out to clench Edith’s shoulder in a white-knuckle grip.

CRUNCH!

Three beak-like protrusions below the torso took a quick bite out of the stone in front of it, continuing to dig as the torso twisted weakly on itself, its cataract-afflicted eyes swirling and deepening into a baleful black. Rael stepped back, trying to pull the other two back as well, but they stood firm. Kip and Edith were whispering something, but the sound of their heart’s thundering beat in their ears deafened their words.

‘Can it see us in the dark?’

The torso contorted and swelled, new muscles forming where there were none, so much like its terrible progenitor. All the while, the massive abdomen that crawled along the ground began to swell grotesquely, its nubs digging deep furrows into the still-drying resin. The ring at its tail end tensed and shrank as the abdomen continued to swell, scales clanging together like a giant rattle. At once, Rael connected the dots.

“Move!” Rael pushed Kip to the ground just in time to avoid something fly past him. “[Minor Light]!”

The threat finally illuminated, Kip stared in open-mouthed horror as Edith and her Tome warrior jumped forwards to strike at the creature.

“What is—” Kip was interrupted by the piercing screech of the vulture head as it twisted its neck around in a series of sickening cracks and pops, its tentacles whipping about in a mad frenzy.

One of its wildly squirming tendrils caught Edith in the chest, sending her flying backwards as her Tome warrior slammed its axe into an opening. Blood erupted from the wound, the demon squealing in pain as its abdomen jerked to the side, slamming the Tome warrior into the wall. Edith’s face paled. Her Tome warrior destroyed, Edith stumbled backwards, incapable of casting spells. The humanoid torso twisted around completely, using its clawed hands to pull itself across its body, its puckered flesh yielding in impossible ways as it waded through its own corpulent flesh to get closer to them.

“Demon.” Rael’s mouth was dry, eyes focused on the monster. They pulled Kip to his feet and pushed him up the slope of the tunnel. A tendril whipped towards Kip, missing his heels by centimeters.

“We got its attention.” Edith groaned and backed up. “Now we lure it out.”

Its abdomen began to swell again.