It was one of those rare sunsets that take your breath away. A bright orange blush framed the jagged foreground of treetops and mountain peaks, drifting into a purply blue glow. A fleeting moment of unbridled beauty on the worst day of her young life so far. Despite the circumstances, Iskvold took a moment to appreciate it and collect herself. She stood alone in the courtyard, her thoughts returning to the carefully arranged remains of her friends at her feet and the tears returned. We didn’t even have enough linens to cover them all. At the edge of her vision, two points of light bobbed towards her from the southwest. Watching their approach she quickly made out the forms of Tsuta and Usha holding staves over their heads to light the path home. Only the two of them. This isn''t good.
“Hail Tsuta, where are the others?” She called out once they were within earshot, as she moved towards the locked gate.
“Hey Pinky” came the reply. Deflated. Resigned. Though she had used the formal greeting that the current circumstances warranted, his response told her something else was on his mind. The clang and whine of aged iron pierced the evening silence as she opened the lock and swung the gate back to let them inside.
“Dead, and both other beacons destroyed. How bad is it here?” Tsuta asked her, and she could do no more than numbly tilt her head back over her right shoulder in response. Raising his staff to increase the range of the magical light that burned from its tip, two rows of bodies in perfect lines stretched into view. Only half were covered with linen clothes, but all had been positioned on their backs, arms crossed over the chest, seventeen in total. Tsuta exhaled audibly as his shoulders slumped and Iskvold unconsciously leaned into the new arrivals. The three embraced silently for several moments before Usha began to weep quietly, her sobs muffled in Iskvold’s shoulder.
“What about the attackers?” Tsuta asked as he pulled back. Iskvold extended a left thumb pointing behind her as she held the acolyte to her chest.
Tsuta raised his staff again as he stepped past her and a pile of charcoal grey limbs and torsos appeared out of the retreating darkness. With none of the care and consideration that was evident in the arrangement of their fallen comrades, it was difficult to tell where one of the creatures ended and the other began. Tsuta studied them intently as he circled the remains.
“Anyone know what they are?” he asked after lifting one of the tails to get a better look at the second creature''s facial features.
“No idea,” she said. “We’ve been calling them hook heads for lack of a better name”. Usha straightened up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, trying to regain control of her breathing. Iskvold squeezed the dwarf’s arm reassuringly and reached past her to close and relock the gate.
“We should debrief with Sifu. He will want to hear about the other beacons”. She instinctively put her arm around Usha’s shoulder and guided the younger woman back towards the abbey entrance. Tsuta dropped the tail, wiped his hands on the side of his leg, and followed them inside.
“Almost everything was ruined by the fire, but we managed to tidy up the mess hall. We’re using that as our base of activities for the moment” Iskvold gave the cloakroom door a shove and it groaned reluctantly on its hinges before granting them passage. Only two of the long tables still stood. The remains of the others were a charred pile of wood in the corner. With the door announcing their arrival, the occupants all turned to the newcomers. Sifu Haft was seated at the table facing them with Nori to his left. Esmi, How and Jin sat across from them. Though they all rose, only Sifu crossed the room towards them.
“Tsuta, very glad to see you! Where are the others?” Tsuta pursed his lips and shook his head. The older man retreated to the table as the others parted, allowing room for Tsuta, Usha, and Iskvold to sit.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Tell me everything.”
Tsuta drew a deep breath and stared at the table’s pockmarked surface as he spoke. He recounted his evening’s activities at the other outposts in nearly identical detail - beacons destroyed, shelters burned. He described his discovery of both pairs of duty monks hundreds of feet below the overlook, broken and almost unrecognizable.
As he finished speaking silence fell over the group for several moments until Tsuta raised his head and looked around at the long faces of his brothers and sisters.
“Where’s Graver?” he asked.
“I sent him to the Crystal Dawn and asked him to activate the Pact, though we may be on our own for a while – he had to go on foot.”
Sifu continued “What I don’t understand is how the hook heads got to the beacons and into the abbey without anyone noticing. They had to pass right by here to get to the outposts, or you would have seen them coming through one of the passes.”
“I may be able to answer that,” Tsuta said. “There was one other thing I noticed…”
Sifu Haft held the monk’s gaze and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
“Well, out with it man! This is no time for dramatics!”
“When I was at the central outpost, I saw a large swarm of ladybugs at the back of the plateau, next to the beacon. And at the southern outpost – same thing.”
He looked around at the faces of his friends, all showing expressions of confusion.
“So? …I’m not following” Iskvold blurted impatiently.
“Well, I’ve learned that when spells are cast, they attract ladybugs. I noticed it myself once, after casting, and I just started to pay attention. It must be something in the residue of casting magic that’s appealing to them.”
“So, you believe that because you found ladybugs, magic was used to bring the hook heads to the outposts? That seems a little far-fetched. I mean they live in these forests naturally” Sifu was unconvinced.
“That’s just it” Tsuta continued “One or two sure, but the first time I noticed it, I had cast a light spell onto a staff tip – like I did tonight – so someone else could see to collect firewood. They left with the staff, and within about ten minutes, I noticed almost twenty ladybugs had gathered directly on the spot where I had cast the spell. Have you ever seen twenty in one place like that before?”
The murmurs of denial around the table conveyed the group’s agreement, so Tsuta continued.
“And here’s the thing. As I paid attention to it, I noticed that the stronger the magic, the more ladybugs it would attract. One of my strongest spells would bring over fifty to the spot where the spell materialized within minutes, and they would stay for hours, writhing around with each other in some kind of frenzy. I did a rough count at each outpost, and there were more than four hundred in the same spot at each beacon. That’s eight times more than my most powerful spell.”
He left his conclusion hanging in the air, unspoken for several moments before Sifu Haft said it out loud.
“You’re saying that not only was some kind of spell used to drop the hook heads on top of us, but it was very powerful magic at that?”
“Exactly. Far more powerful than I’ve ever seen.”
Sifu furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before speaking.
“I want to think on this.” Turning his head to address what remained of the abbey’s order, he raised his chin. “I want you all to know that I am extremely proud of how everyone responded today in the face of disaster. We lost everything except who we are. As I look around the table I see resilience, courage, and the determination to make tomorrow a little better than today. I also sense the resolve necessary to get to the bottom of what happened here and get justice for our brothers and sisters. As my own Sifu once said – If you come for the Luminarium, you best not miss! Today…someone missed. I intend to make them regret that.” A chorus of hands thumping the table’s wooden surface echoed around the empty mess hall. As the reverberations died away, he continued. “I’m afraid tomorrow will be another very long and difficult day. We must send off seventeen of our brothers and sisters, and we’ll also have to figure out how to retrieve four more from below the outposts. Lean on each other. Let our shared sorrow be our strength. Now, I know it’s not the most comfortable…” he gestured to his right “…but I had Esmi and Jin drag the battle mat in from the dojo. I think it best if we all stay together in here tonight. Not to mention, it’s the only mat that survived the fire.” Sifu nodded at Tsuta and Usha. “Why don’t you two get something to eat? We’ve managed to cobble together some bread and soup in the kitchen, and I suggest we all try to get some rest.”