I ran over and grabbed him by the shoulders. “What happened? Is Abby safe?”

“She’s fine, sire,” replied the soldier. “The priestess’s monks attacked us. We had no choice but to defend ourselves.”

I tried to cast Lay On Hands but the man had no injuries. Pulling up his tab, the health bar was full. The blood staining his skin and armour was not his own. “Take me to them.”

We ran through the streets, leaving the gasping, out-of-shape mayor in our dust. Reaching the home, Cole had moved the bodies into a pile outside. Thick rivers of crimson trickled through the gaps between the cobbles. Selene’s robes did not lay among the wet, brown habits.

“Where is she?” I asked as Cole approached.

“Last seen heading out of the east gate on horseback,” he replied.

“She didn’t join the attack?”

Cole shook his head. “No, sire. Only her men.”

Beside the bodies were the pathetic weapons they had used in the doomed assault. Clubs and kitchen utensils. A ladle and a pair of knives. “They tried to get to her with those?”

“They just rushed at us. There wasn’t much of a fight.”

I checked over the individual statuses of the guards and none of them had suffered an injury. It really was a completely one-sided fight.

“We even had a little help,” he said, pointing at my canine follower in the doorway.

His muzzle was bloodied, but a quick check of his health showed he too was unharmed. It just didn’t make sense. “Why attack at all if they stood no chance?”

“I have no idea, sire. Perhaps if you could catch Selene, she may be able to shed some light on their motives?”

A side-quest pinged, taking me right to the top of their organisation.

Quest – Investigate The Seven (optional)

Description – Seek out and scrutinise the mysterious religious group.

Reward – Loot Box (Pet)

“I’ll do that. “ I could well understand the need to lash out at imagined threats. When put under intense stress, humans could do the vilest things to one another. My own world was no different with the witch trials of early American history. Untold cruelties inflicted on innocent girls, all driven by rampant suspicion and religious zealotry.

I was still left with questions, but they could wait until later. Moving into the tiny home, I tried to stroke the pup, but he retreated to a safe distance, sat down, and watched. Abby and Eleanor were sitting by the fireplace. The hearth was cold and dark. With the recent brush with the flames, I didn’t blame them for not having it roaring.

“Are you both ok?”

“We are,” replied the mother.

Abby was having a harder time of processing it. “They threw their lives away to hurt me. Why?”

“That’s what I’m hoping to find out,” I said. “May I sit?”

Eleanor nodded, then returned to staring at the ashes. Another quest pinged, giving me no help whatsoever.

Quest – Protect Abigail Frost (Main)

Description – Protect the child.

Reward – Loot Box (Legendary)

Layton was content to discuss the happenings with the captain outside, giving me some privacy with the family. “You were talking before about your troubles. Do you mind if I ask what that meant?”

“It’s private!” snapped Eleanor.

“It might help me to figure out how to beat this uprising,” I said, calmly.

Eleanor wasn’t going to spill the beans, but Abby was more forthcoming. “Hamon Dred… he’s my father,” she said.

“Oh shit!” I blurted. Now the suicidal attack made more sense. “They wanted retribution against his family? They thought to hurt him by hurting you?”

Eleanor tried to hold back her tears. “As if the thing they say he’s become could feel sorrow. He’s a monster.”

That was undeniable, but my point was still valid. Perhaps they hoped to weaken the necromancer in some fashion. “How did you both meet? I understand it’s personal, but I really do need to know everything I can about this world.”

So caught up in melancholy at the past, Eleanor missed my slip with the word world. She sniffed and rubbed away the tears. “He was a young man at war. A noble, from the Vale. I was just a girl, lowborn, daughter to a baker.”

“You fell in love?”

“We fell into something. I’m not sure it was love.”

“It was, mother,” argued Abby. “You know it was.”

“Fine! We were in love. For all the good it did us. The king’s army was camped nearby, provisioning before they marched for Penewick Vale, and from there, across the sea. For a week, the soldiers spent their time and coin in the town. Not to mention their affections. The brothel girls couldn’t walk straight.”

“You weren’t…?”

She laughed at my question. “Lords no. Father would’ve locked me in the cellar, never to see daylight again. Or sent me off to join the Sisters of The Seven.”

“How did you meet then?”

“In my father’s store,” she replied. “I was working the ovens. Hamon would come in constantly and buy a fresh loaf. At least four times a day. No man needed that much bread.”

“He just wanted to see you.”

“Indeed. He was subtle, and would never stare directly when father was watching. But I knew he liked me.”

“You ran off with him?”

“No, but we met every night under the stars after I’d sneak out through my window. I was a young woman, smitten with the proud warrior. Out in the woods, he would show me his growing magical powers…”

“Such as? Tell me everything.”

“The years of study were only just coming to fruition. He could start fires, create light patterns in the night sky, that was about it.”

That made him a pyromancer, or at least the possibility of being one. How that transferred into the ability to raise the dead was another matter entirely. Would he have both schools mastered when we finally faced off against each other? Only time would tell.

“What happened?”

Eleanor glanced at Abby who was smiling at the tale of burgeoning love. “As much as it shames me, we lay together. Out of wedlock.”

“Why’s that so shameful?” I asked.

Her scoff was bitter. “Do paladins often overlook sin?”

“No, but we weigh it up with love and circumstance. In my land, it isn’t unusual for people to live together without being married. They have children. They’re happy.”

“Then your home is more enlightened than Tulahr, sire.”

“In some ways, yes, and in others, no,” I replied. “But in Tulahr, why not just get married if you were in love? That would stop the shame, surely?”

“Marriage was out of the question, even if he didn’t already have a wife arranged by their respective families. Remember, I was lowborn, and Hamon was a noble. It would never be allowed.”

“Ahh, I see. What happened next?”

“The army moved on to war, and I never saw him again. He said he would come back for me, but I could tell our trysts were tearing at his heart. At his honour. I knew I was with child by the next moon.”

“What did you do?”

Eleanor looked at Abby and smiled wistfully. “I had two choices. I could throw myself from the Broken Peaks, or tell my father.”

“You told your father?”

She shook her head. “Not at first. I stood on those cliffs for hours. Until my teeth were chattering and I could no longer feel my fingers and toes.”

Abby showed no outward sign of distress. This was a tale that had already been shared between them.

“I returned to the town, near to death, even after changing my mind. Wouldn’t that have been ironic? To have died even though I’d chosen to live. I collapsed at the southern gate and was brought home to rest in the warmth. It was when I woke up that I told my father. It broke his heart and he died before Abigail was born.”

“I’m sorry. That’s rough.” I wondered about their current accommodation and the lack of any baking equipment. Before I could ask, Eleanor’s face darkened with bitterness.

“I was left alone. Mother had died giving birth to me, and I was filled with dread that the same fate would befall Abigail. With no one to care for her if that should happen, she would be left to die, or be taken by the Sisters of The Seven which was little better. But the time came for me to give birth, and she popped out as happy as you please.”

Abby grinned at that. “I’ve always been a good daughter.”

Eleanor cheered up a little at the smile. “You have. I was unable to run the bakery with a baby and no customers, so I sold father’s legacy and bought this place. We’ve been living a modest existence ever since. I do some seamstress work to make the coin last. Not that it matters anymore. This plague threatens us all.”

“Wait, you said no customers?”

“We’ve never been fully accepted since my transgression against the faith. I tried to run his shop as best I could, but everything I prepared went to waste when my door remained empty.”

I started to grind my teeth in anger at their treatment.

She held her hands up in resignation. “Why do you think there wasn’t a protest from the townsfolk? Why they let my Abby be tied to that stake in the first place? I think they hoped that if she was gone, I’d be gone too. And they would’ve been right. I couldn’t go on without her.”

“Layton?” I yelled, making the girls flinch.

He appeared at the doorway. “Yes, Mark?”

“You’re officially on my shit list! You all are.”

He looked between me and Eleanor. “Is… is that a good thing?”

“No, now get out of my sight!”

The mayor retreated sharpish and Abby was chuckling into her sleeve.

“It’s been long and long since anyone saw fit to stand up for us, hero,” said Eleanor.

“Well that all changes now I’m here.” I checked my inventory and found the money had carried over from Osterland. I had more than I could spend in a hundred lifetimes. To my dismay, the guns and ammunition I’d stolen were gone. I guessed they didn’t want the time period advancing from flintlocks to fully-automatic weapons too quickly. I summoned a sizeable pile of gold coins into my open palms, not even scratching the surface of my wealth. “How long will this last you?”

Abby’s eyes widened at the trick and the shiny coins. Eleanor gasped and held a hand to her mouth. “Sire, I can’t accept that.”

“It either goes in your hands or on the floor,” I warned. “Will it last you?”

“It will last until long after I’m dust in the ground,” she replied, offering her trembling palms.

“Good,” I said, dropping them in with a few extra for good measure. “Now listen. My…” I nearly said sponsors. “My god has told me that I need to keep Abby safe. I’ll be totally honest and say the only way I can see to achieve that is to have you both with me at all times. If your land is like my past quests, we’ll be doing a lot of travelling, and a lot of fighting. I’ll make sure to keep you somewhere out of reach while we do battle.”

“Pardon, sire,” Eleanor interrupted my flow. “But I can’t travel.”

“Why?”

“It’s a sickness of the mind, sire. It’s another shame for me to bear.”

“I’m sure we can work around it if you’ll explain it to me.”

“I wish it were so simple. Ever since father died and I sold the bakery, I can’t stand to be out of my home.”

“But you were in the town square earlier?”

“Tied and carried, sire,” she reminded me. “It was only fear for Abby that stopped me from fainting. It’s the strangest sensation, as if I’ve been scared witless by some creature of the night. My heart starts to gallop, and my skin goes all clammy. I can’t breathe properly, and most times I collapse in the dirt before I’ve taken two paces.”

“Agoraphobia?”

She frowned at me. “What?”

“Agoraphobia. We have it in my land. It’s the fear of leaving the familiar, in this case your home. Your body goes into a panic response which causes the symptoms you mentioned.”

“I’m not alone in this malady?” she asked, breathlessly.

“It’s actually quite common.”

Eleanor slumped back in her chair. “I finally have a name for it. Agoraphobia,” she sighed.

“Many people suffer in my land.”

“They do? Is there a cure? I can buy as much ox blood as I need with your kind charity.”

“Ox blood? No, that won’t help.”

“Then tell me what ritual we must do. What prayers I must offer.”

“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. It’s a slow process where you build up your confidence. Like the first week they would just have you stand by the door, but not leave. You would just watch the outside from the safety of your home. It’s a way of convincing your mind that it doesn’t hold the imagined danger. The next step might be to move out a few feet, but not too far. Within easy reach of your door and home. It builds from there.”

“Ok, I’m ready to do what I need to. How long do we have for you to attempt this?” she asked, buoyed by my novice diagnosis but aware of the truth of our predicament.

It was my turn to sigh. “Not long enough. Nowhere near.”

“I thought so,” Eleanor replied.

Abby understood the meaning of our exchange and became distraught. “I don’t want to leave you, mother.”

Eleanor took her daughter’s hands. “Darling, I can’t protect you. As much as I fought tonight, I could do nothing. The only reason I still have you is the hero sitting there.”

“Then we’ll find a way!” Abby declared with childlike certainty. “We can even tie you up if we need to.”

Eleanor laughed. “I’ll be just fine waiting here, Abby. You must go with him, for as long as his task remains unfulfilled.”

“Even if his quest take me closer to the danger?” Abby argued, quite rightly.

“I won’t lie to you, Eleanor. My path is guaranteed to take me in the path of grave danger. The gravest. Right up to Bloodfang Citadel itself.”

She fixed me in her motherly gaze. “But you can keep her safe, even in the face of such evil?”

“I’ve never failed in my missions before now, but I can’t make a promise like that. What I will promise is that I’ll give my life gladly if it means keeping her from harm.”

Eleanor stared at me for long seconds, her eyes wet with frustration induced tears. “Then I give her into your care, sire.”

Abby came close to arguing. The respect she had been taught prevented the outburst. She summoned up her courage and sat a little straighter in the chair. “I won’t slow you down, sire. And I will come back for you, mother.”

“Call me Mark. And yes, we will come back for her.”

Bart popped into my head. Cris, Sun, and Cody are about to appear. Good luck!

“Ladies, my friends are about to arrive. Please don’t be startled.”

Eleanor narrowed her eyes and looked to the door. “About to arrive? What do you…”

My party appeared in the corner, as imposing as I remembered them. They all looked at me, then the two strangers.

Cris raised a hand and smiled. “Hi!”