“What have you found?” Blane asked, coming up to Kai as he paused at the entrance to the two caves.

“What do you mean?” Kai asked, glancing at Blane out of the corner of his eye. If they hadn’t just fought together, he might suspect the odd man with his strange energy of being part of this, whatever it was. As it was, he was willing to give Blane the benefit of the doubt.

“Your body language has changed. You became a lot tenser when you examined the wound on the cub,” Blane said evenly, resting a hand on his sheathed sword.

“I found this,” Kai said after a brief moment of thought, passing Blane the remnant of the arrowhead. “I think someone attacked the cub, and then the mother chased them down and killed them, taking their territory for herself.”

“The caves?” Blane asked as he inspected the arrowhead for a moment before shrugging slightly and passing it back to Kai.

“The caves,” Kai confirmed with a nod of his head. Deciding to start with the larger cave, he began to step forward before hesitating and looking over to Blane. “I’m sorry about Clara.”

“We barely knew each other. I had hoped to return after finding my sister and try to change that,” Blane said softly. “I regret that I’ll never have that chance.”

“Well, let’s see who took that chance away from you,” Kai said, circulating his Essence and channelling enough to his spear to ignite the tip, illuminating their surroundings.

The initial section of the cave was normal and lacked any defining features beyond a large depression where the bear had been sleeping. Further in, however, Kai found what looked like an area of storage, with crates and barrels lining the walls of the cave. Just beyond that were what used to be living quarters.

Once, there would have been what was, in essence, a small home here, with several bunks, an enchanted lantern for light and all the amenities of living in one place for some time. Now, however, there were great swathes of rock that had been damaged, piles of rubble and shattered furniture everywhere.

It was easy enough to see what it had once been; the bear hadn’t bothered with destroying the surroundings once it had killed whoever had wronged it.

“What was this?” Blane asked, frowning as he picked up a piece of a table and examined it in the dim light from Kai’s spear.

“An outpost or a cache, but an active one from the look of it. Though, why would anyone stationed here be attacking an elemental bear cub?” Kai examined the remnants of the enchanted lantern, but it was too damaged to be rescued. Not wanting to keep using his Essence, Kai went back to the intact storage section and found a few mundane lanterns, lighting them with his spear.

With the better quality of light, the two of them split their search, with Blane checking what could be scavenged from the intact stores while Kai investigated the damaged area. Ideally, he wanted to try and find some form of clue to the identity of the people who’d been here, but it seemed the bear had devoured its victims, and there wasn’t much else to be found.

The lack of identifying marks on the barrels and crates was telling. Kai was leaning toward this being an outpost for a sect, or something similar. What he didn’t understand, though, was how the bear was involved.

The assumption that these sorcerers, whoever they were, had attacked the bear cub seemed a sound one, but Kai lacked the information to really understand what they were doing here.

“Kai, I’ve found some healing supplies. I’ll take them out to the Lieutenant now. Have you found anything?” Blane said, holding up a bundle of what looked like mundane healing equipment.

“No, and I don’t think I will,” Kai said, shaking his head a little with a grimace. “Let’s head back and see how the others are doing. We’ll need to report this to Silver if nothing else.”

Blane nodded and gathered a few more things before they both made their way back out of the cave. The guards had spent the time dressing wounds and moving the fallen to one side. Thankfully, Tom had woken up while they were gone, though he looked groggy and out of sorts.

“Lieutenant, I need to speak with you,” Kai called out, sharing a look with Blane as the other man went to go pass out the additional medical supplies.

“Disciple Kai,” Silver said, acknowledging Kai with a nod as he came over. “I saw that you went to check the caves. What did you find?”

“Nothing good,” Kai said grimly, motioning toward the smaller bear. “I’m sure you noticed the wound on the cub. I believe that a group was stationed here and attacked the cub for some reason. The mother then pursued them, killed them and took the caves for herself, which is why they abruptly appeared in the area around Willowcreek.”

“Stationed here?” Silver queried, raising a brow questioningly.

“Yes, inside the cave, there are provisions and what looks like the remnants of an outpost.” Kai explained.

“Remnants?”

“The bear,” Kai said flatly, Silver breathing out heavily as he turned to look at their fallen.

“So. Someone caused all this,” Silver said, more to himself than anything. Kai left him to process that for a moment, waiting until the Lieutenant gave a crisp nod and turned back to him. “We’ll move out as soon as we can. We need to make sure that Commander Griffon is informed.”

“I agree, but what about your wounded?” Kai asked, gesturing to the guards, who were a little worse for wear.

“We’ll keep the pace slow, no one is unable to walk, and Willowbrook isn’t far. If needs be, we can leave the wounded and the supplies with them while the rest of us head back.”

“You seem eager to return,” Kai said, a little surprised by how quick Silver was to talk of leaving his people in the village.

“I don’t like any of this. We’ve had problems with a few sects trying to push in recently. The Commander knows more, but he needs this information as soon as possible.”

“I can take it to him,” Blane said, walking over to join them from where he’d been passing out the supplies. Kai could have sworn Blane had been outside of earshot, but the other man had already demonstrated that he had keen senses.

“You can trust him,” Kai said, nodding to Blane as he gave his support.

“Very well, let’s work on the message for you to take,” Silver said, settling in to run through the message that Blane was to pass on to Commander Griffon.

While the two of them were occupied, Kai moved over to Tom and knelt down next to his companion. Tom was sat up against a tree but looked punch-drunk at best.

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Kai asked, reaching out to lay a hand on Tom’s shoulder.

“Like I just got hit by an avalanche, everything hurts,” Tom said, slurring a few words here and there.

“I know, that was a big hit you took,” Kai said, shaking his head in disbelief as he remembered how Tom had taken the full charge of the bear. “Try and move your Essence around your body, it’s not as good as what Verdan does, but it’ll help.”

“Got it, sure,” Tom said, his voice trailing off as he slumped back against the tree, utterly exhausted.

“You’ll be fine,” Kai said, patting the semi-lucid sorcerer on the shoulder as he went to go patrol the area. The last thing they needed was something trying to pick off survivors as easy prey.

-**-

Blane set off back to Hobson’s Point before Kai finished his patrol, which had been blessedly uneventful. In that time, Silver had organised the remained of their expedition and buried their fallen. It was a grim task, but one that had to be seen to. Several of the weapons they had brought had expended their magical power, but Silver made sure to gather up the ones that still did. While Verdan might be able to make more, they still represented a powerful boon for the Hobson Point guards.

Kai took all this in as he returned, noting as he did that Tom looked much improved. Cycling his Essence had brought some colour back to his face, and he seemed to be breathing easier. There was nothing else for them to do here. It was time for them to set off back to Willowbrook.

The journey back out of the valley was a lot harder than on the way in, everyone was physically capable of walking, but some of the more wounded guards struggled with the hike.

Kai did what he could to support the injured and help them get past obstacles, but he’d taken a bit of a beating himself, and it was hindering his ability to help. Still, he did what he could, and though their progress was slow, they were getting there.

Callum kept ahead of the group as they travelled, the old hunter mourning silently for his daughter and in no mood for any discourse with them. There was an unspoken decision to leave him to grieve by himself. At the end of the day, they barely knew Callum, and Kai couldn’t help but feel that anything more than the condolence they’d given would feel disingenuous.

When they did reach Willowbrook, Callum disappeared through the gates without a backward glance, leaving them to speak with Tella. The headwoman had clearly been alerted that they were arriving, as she was waiting at the gates with helpers to care for the wounded.

“Is it dead?” Tella asked Silver in a worried tone, taking in the wounds and the missing comrades.

“Yes. Both of them. The one that attacked you was merely a cub,” Silver said in an exhausted tone. The Lieutenant was physically one of the healthiest of the group, but Kai could see the emotional pain in his eyes. Duty was keeping him upright and on mission, but he was suffering.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Tella said, reaching out to rest a hand on Silver’s arm. “I have to ask, but I saw Callum come in alone….”

“Clara didn’t make it,” Kai confirmed on Silver’s behalf. “She killed the cub but drew the mother’s ire.”

“I shouldn’t have let her go with you; I knew she was hurting from her mother’s death,” Tella whispered, more to herself than anything. “May the ancestors watch over her soul. May they watch over all of them.” Tella squeezed Silver’s arm before motioning for them to follow her into the village.

“I know we sent Blane on ahead, but I still don’t feel comfortable lingering here. This new information about the bear and how it arrived concerns me greatly.” Silver said quietly, glancing over to Kai as they followed a short distance behind Tella.

“I agree. I suggest giving them an hour of rest with some food and water. If we set off before noon, we should be back by early evening, even at our slower pace. The travel will hurt their recovery, though.”

“It can’t be helped; I’m not leaving them here unsupported,” Silver said with a shake of his head.

“Ah, Sir, sorry to interrupt, but I have a thought,” Jenkins said, approaching the two of them with a wince as he held his side.

“Go on, Jenkins. What’s wrong?” Silver turned a questioning look on his subordinate, who tried to straighten under Silver’s gaze but ended up wincing and hunching a little.

“Well, Sir, it’s the wagon we came up with. All those supplies were for us if we needed to act as a detached garrison of sorts. If we’re heading back, why not give them to the village, and we can cycle the wounded through riding on the cart to give everyone some rest?”

“That’s not a bad plan at all,” Kai said, nodding at Jenkins before looking to Silver. “What do you think?”

“I agree. Well done, Jenkins,” Silver said, his subordinate beaming at the praise. “Get everyone some food and somewhere to rest. I’ll speak with Tella; we leave in an hour.”