《Silveren》


 Evening patrol

    Puffy white clouds slid slowly across a deep blue sky that evening had just started darkening. A light breeze played in the trees, rustling the leaves. The breeze made the heat of the day feel great.


    A few men had gathered to load a neighbor''s wagon. A colorful mob of kids streaked past, their shrieks and giggling drowning out all other sound. Small groups of people chatted here and there. Hm. Even Arla got out. I don¡¯t see my landlady all that much. She glanced my way and scurried off. Ah well, the cool of the evening just starting to roll in and with it my watch patrol was starting.


    A familiar voice called out a cheerful ¡°Hey Baz!¡± Mowris jogged toward me waving, her watch horn swinging at her side though she carried no weapon. At her approach I arched an eyebrow in question. She flicked her hair back with one hand dramatically ¡°I have decided to grace you with my company.¡± She said regally. The regal image dissolving in a fit of giggles. She knows she looked good but isn¡¯t hung up on it. That¡¯s one of the things I like about her.


    Outside of the cities tolerance for magic is pretty low. Small towns and villages don¡¯t usually have the ability to train them and untrained mages are dangerous. Here in Silveren the magically gifted are fairly lucky. When any magical ability is displayed, they ended up ¡°going to visit relatives¡±. Code for being sent to the city to train. The village even has a fund put together to help those that may need training.


    Many places, due to superstition, the inability to pay for training or any of a number of other reasons the tolerance is much less. Those displaying magical ability tend not to survive displaying any ability. Mowris had her time ¡°visiting relatives¡± and decided to leave the big city and to return to Silveren and join the watch. She joined a few months before I was forced to. Our own celebrated, home-grown mage.


    She shook her head, brows drawing together in anger ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to do your patrols on your own. None of the rest of us do. We all go out in pairs.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I am the odd man out. There are usually only six in the watch. Though I won¡¯t complain if it means you volunteer to keep me company.¡± I teased, grinning at her. ¡°You just get treated differently because the mayor added you to the team after the trials.¡± She said, looking irritated. She glanced up a guilty, horrified look on her face ¡°Not that I¡¯m saying you couldn¡¯t do the trials, I mean, you would¡¯ve aced them of course.¡± She finished with a shrug of her shoulders and a careless grin. ¡°It¡¯s just that others look down on you and use that as an excuse.¡± She finished, kicking at a rock in her path and missing it entirely. She just walked on as though nothing had happened.


    ¡°I dunno.¡± I said, smirking wryly ¡°I could¡¯ve used my ¡®dark halfer magics¡¯ to make the mayor put me on the team.¡± I bent my fingers and wiggled them, mock casting a spell. We both laughed. Another member of the watch had hinted at just such an event. ¡°Bran can be so stupid sometimes.¡± She said still giggling.


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    ¡°Yea. People see the grey skin, the pointed ears and in their head suddenly it becomes us against them and I get relegated to ¡®them¡¯. They usually come around though. Bran, he has some real racial hangups. And his reaction to mixed race makes his normal racial hang ups seem mild.¡± She nodded wryly, agreeing with me. ¡°You don¡¯t get much more obvious a mix.¡± I said gesturing to my bare arm.


    She peered at my arm absently muttering to herself ¡°In all my time in Dolnon and all her colorful markets I¡¯ve never seen another with your skin tone.¡± She glanced up and grimaced. ¡°Sorry, that was rude.¡± I shrugged. ¡°It was an observation. An observation that pointed out how different I am and underscored that I may be unique.¡± The response was supposed to be a light jibe to let her know she had crossed a line but that I was fine with it. Instead it came off with a bitterness even I was surprised to hear. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean anything by it.¡± she said sulkily but she didn¡¯t run off like I thought she might.


    Sighing guiltily, frustrated with myself I tried to break the awkwardness between us ¡°Technically I¡¯m not a ¡®halfer¡¯. My parents were both elves. So I am fully an elf. My parents were very different though. My dad came from the woods his people got their name from.¡± Her sniffle was followed by scuffing the ground with a step, probably meant to disguise the sniffle but didn¡¯t look at me. ¡°His people were hunters, in tune with nature, Ahnarhi elves. People label them dark for their nearly black skin tone. They also call them nature, sun or,¡± I added sarcastically ¡°one of my favorites, beast elves.¡±.


    Mowris curiosity got the better of her and she peered up at me as we walked. ¡°My mother was from the caves. Her people, the Kodef elves, believed death a release from the tortures of living. If what she told me was right and I have no reason to doubt her, they had worked out many creative ways to make others view death in the same way. They believe living itself to be a perversion of the natural order.¡± I had her full attention now. ¡°People label them bone or shade elves due to their parchment white skin or sometimes called them death or blood elves for very different reasons. This unlikely and peculiar ancestry left me not with a tan or swarthy complexion but gray. Like a stone. People stare. They try to figure it out usually while crossing the road away from me to stay safe.¡± I said, oddly proud of the detachment I heard in my voice. No anger or bitterness to drive her away.


    ¡°I would never do that to you.¡± She intoned like an oath as she reached up and patted my shoulder before dropping her hand. ¡°People are stupid.¡± she muttered, managing to actually kick a rock this time.


    Out here the people have gotten used to me although every so often someone does something that makes me wish I was the monster they imagined me to be. We are a frontier village. We have Dwarves, Elves, and our grocer is even an Orc. Even here I get stares. Heck, my landlady was supposed to have some devil blood. I mean, I¡¯ve always heard she¡¯s nice but I¡¯ve seen no evidence of that myself. I¡¯m not saying she¡¯s mean. I just almost never see her. Many of these are people who have pasts they¡¯ve run from and are trying to build new futures.


    Nowhere is that more evident than the poor quarter. Many arrive here with only what they are carrying as possessions. Here there aren¡¯t questions and no one wants to chase someone this far away from civilization. I walked through the poor quarter feeling content with my adopted home.

 Wizards?

    ¡°I want to ask you a personal question today.¡± Mowris broke the silence, blushing as she grinned at me, my earlier grumpiness apparently forgotten. Sassing her about already giving her personal information crossed my mind but was discarded. I¡¯d already tried to run her off once tonight and didn¡¯t want to push my luck more.


    Nodding I look at her ¡°Ok, but I get to ask one, in return.¡± I say. Well, I wasn¡¯t going to give her a promise for an open question without getting something in return! She peered at me, squinting like she¡¯s considering how rotten I could be. ¡°Hey!¡± I laugh, pushing at her. Staggering sideways exaggeratedly she steadied herself with overstated effort ¡°I suppose.¡° She said rolling her eyes and laughing. Relief flooded me at hearing her laugh after I had tried to run her off. A few steps and I began to wonder if I was going to hear this so called personal question.


    ¡°So Baz¡­ That¡¯s short for?¡± Intense curiosity radiated from her. Her voice indicating that she felt like she was stepping over some boundaries here and wasn¡¯t sure if she could.


    Laughing I shook my head. ¡°OK.¡± Shrugging I let her have it ¡°My full first name is Bazkertikakiilpopf.¡± Instead of the stunned disbelief I expected she was already working out the name, her mouth moving, trying to out the different sounds.


    ¡°Um¡­ One more time, please?¡± she said with such focus that I could easily see that she must¡¯ve been one of the top students in the mages academy.


    ¡°Sure¡± and said it again.


    ¡°Ok. Bazkertikakiilpoff¡± She said bobbling her head me as she said each syllable comically. She shot me a side eye as she realized that it must look like she was mocking my name her face turning really red at my raised eyebrow.


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    She isn¡¯t being rude but catching her like that made me laugh. She blinked, shocked disbelief at my laughter flashing across her face, she turned on me. Hand raised she pointed at me, drawing a deep breath for what promised to be a searing verbal attack. ¡°That was shockingly well done.¡± I said, interrupting her. ¡°The sound at the end would be a bit harder. Popf rather than poff. Truly I am impressed¡± I said attempting to shift her focus.


    The correction stopping her cold, her face going from stormy to inner contemplation as she reviewed what she said against what I said. As she did so she squinted at me, likely to see if I was sincere in my compliment or if I was mocking her. Deciding I was sincere she nodded ¡°Ah, ok. Got it. And I won¡¯t tell anyone else. I just wanted to know. Your turn.¡±


    My mind raced trying to see where she was going with this and why my full name was of interest at all. It isn¡¯t some big secret. I just didn¡¯t feel the need to make people spit out that mouthful before I answering them. It was a conversation by itself. Like anyone called me that outside of my mom. I could tell she felt triumphant in her quest and wanted to make this a secret between the two of us so I left it alone.


    I thought nervously about how to frame up my request and considered ditching it altogether. Hm. That must¡¯ve been the delay before she asked her question. She must¡¯ve actually been nervous asking my name. A cheerful ¡°Hey Baz!¡± broke me out of my thoughts. ¡°Oh. Hey May.¡± I said turning to her. May¡¯s orange-ish hair and pale, freckled skin alone would¡¯ve made her stand out. On top of this she is around 6 foot tall and while curvy in some great places she was also solidly built, a muscular build anyone would be proud of. ¡°Have you seen Rithel recently?¡± she asked.


    Struggling a moment trying to place the name May smirked at me. ¡°You aren¡¯t around the poor sector enough anymore. He¡¯s a newbie. Brown hair, average height, wears an odd coat everywhere he goes regardless of the temperature¡­¡± She trialed off seeing the glint of recognition in my eyes. Yea¡­ jacket-man.


    ¡°Sorry May, I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve seen him. If I do I¡¯ll tell him you¡¯re looking for him.¡±


    Rolling her eyes and smiling she said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, silly!¡± punctuating the statement with a light punch to my shoulder. ¡°Thanks for keeping an eye out for him!¡± Smiling and waving she bounced away.

 Spirits?

    ¡°Ooo, someone has a fan!¡± Mowris teased.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I spun, not missing a beat. ¡°So you¡¯re a fan now, are you?¡±


    Stepping back Mowris shook her head at me while folding her arms ¡°Pff! Ask your question already!¡±


    I had something I was pretty curious about and had been having difficulty figuring out a time to bring it up that wouldn¡¯t seem weird. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. ¡°So how do you work with the spirits to do magic?¡±


    Furrowing her brow in confusion she asked ¡°Why do you want to know that?¡± Disbelief lacing her voice. ¡°Are you planning on becoming a wizard?¡± She asked, laughter bubbling behind her eyes.


    A barrage of images mocking wizards as powerless dupers of even more powerless spirits poured into my head. There was a time I would¡¯ve had trouble continuing a conversation under such an onslaught. Now it was second nature to just tune it out and maintain my focus. ¡°Nah, I doubt I even have the ability.¡± I replied shrugging.


    ¡°Well,¡± she said ¡°if you did, you would have to concentrate. You know, actually put some effort into it.¡± She said grinning evilly at me.


    ¡°Rules me out!¡± I said hand to my chest looking comically sincere. Laughing she punched me in the arm. Grabbing my arm, I staggering exaggeratedly to the side and she laughed again. I really enjoyed her laugh and that she laughed easily. It made me feel like somehow things were right with the world.


    Her eyes went far away as she thought about the question. ¡°There are tricks that can be used to help with concentration when starting out. You put yourself in a state where you are aware of the spirits around.¡±


    ¡°Like you can see them?¡± I asked glancing at the grumpy purple spirit floating to my side.


    ¡°No.¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think they are really in this world.¡±


    The images flashing into my mind shifted to focusing on the stupidity of wizards. I continued to ignore them. Mowris paused a second before continuing. ¡°I don¡¯t think they can really be seen. You just know they are there. Most mages already have a spirit. Its why they are at the academy. They¡¯ve accidentally already given their spirit a command. If they¡¯re lucky it was something minor that didn¡¯t get them into trouble. The academy teaches you how to build that relation with your spirit, honestly in the beginning the lessons are more focused on making you aware of your spirit so you know how to not make sure you don¡¯t accidentally command them to do anything.¡±


    I glanced to my left. My own personal spirit following me as it always had. A swirling dark purple cloud. I could always see it though no one else could. It would shift colors sometimes to a bright green though it didn¡¯t do that very often anymore. It and I don¡¯t speak, really. It projects thoughts to me. Over the years I¡¯ve grown to understand it pretty well to the point where we could kind of converse.


    Soon after learning to understand it I learned to filter it out. It was bossy, imperious and downright annoying. Right now it was conveying its contempt for wizards in general as tricksters, misleading tiny spirits. It was never very nice when it was purple and it always seemed to be purple anymore.


    While I would see other spirits drifted here and there, they would drift off. This one always hung around. I could only guess that I entertained it somehow. Another light purplish spirit drifted close by. I¡¯d been seeing a few more of them today than normal. She made me wonder though. I had always figured that wizards could put themselves in a state where they could see spirits.


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    ¡°You offer some of your own energy, but conditionally. Well, you can¡¯t really talk to them. I mean they don¡¯t understand words.¡± She gave me a frustrated, confused look. ¡°You think at them¡± she said almost making it sound like a question. ¡°Bah. I¡¯m making a mess of this!¡± she said her face going pensive as she thought about a better way to put it.


    ¡°I think I get it.¡± I said looking around to see a couple other small light green spirits drift by ¡°You somehow let them know that they can have the energy if they will do something for you?¡±


    Her face lit up. ¡°Exactly! Except there¡¯s a bit more. You offer to keep feeding them, if they will do things you want. Kind of like feeding a stray until they become yours.¡± She finished up, grinning.


    ¡°Oh? So you don¡¯t command any spirit?¡± I said surprised. ¡°Nah. Wizards usually get one, maybe two spirits I would guess. I mean we can¡¯t see them but the process of getting one¡¯s attention, then convincing them to work with you is pretty distinct. Besides, you only have so much energy, feeding them is like running a race. One or two is the most people can maintain without being exhausted constantly.¡±


    ¡°So then you just tell them to do things and they do them?¡± I asked curious. She laughed, shaking her head her black hair cascading around her face. ¡°I wish it were that easy! Wizards have to concentrate to control their own energy, then work to siphon off a section to offer and make them aware of what we want. Some of that comes through thought, some through gestures. They don¡¯t really understand us. So going back to the example of the stray, you teach them to perform tricks on command. You have to figure out a command that works for the two of you and practice it with them until they get the hang of it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said ¡°So being a wizard is more about managing your own energy to provide a treat or kind of pay for a spirit to do things?¡± I asked actually a bit confused about wizards.


    My spirit¡¯s ideas came at me basically saying ¡°See? I told you.¡± and honestly I kind of agreed.


    ¡°And then¡± she said, breaking into my thoughts ¡°there are powered individuals, like you, who can do one or two things. The theory I learned at the academy is that you actually have a surplus of spirit energy and this surplus can be used for usually one or two specific things.¡±


    ¡°Psh, my ability is pretty minor¡± I said, picking up a stone. Rubbing my finger of the stone its surface sunk in places, shifting as though I was wiping bits of it away until what remained looked like a little flower head I had seen nearby when I picked up the stone.


    I had used this power to sell items to visitors as they left town, usually for a low price they couldn¡¯t believe for such intricate work. All I did was displace parts of the rock into the spirit realm. After a while the rock remembers where it¡¯s supposed to be and reverts to the stone it was when I picked it up. This power and that practice, caught up to me.


    Because of that I was now part of the watch for this sleepy little town. On the whole it was very quiet. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong, like anywhere else without large issues the populace drummed up its little issues like they were the end of the world. As wards for our little segment of society we reacted to these issues as though they were large issues and everyone was happy. Having been in some rough areas prior to coming here I had a hard time buying into the drama sometimes, but I reminded myself it could be worse.


    I figure people just can¡¯t survive without a certain level of drama. They increase it or suppress it as needed to make their world work. Personally I liked to live in a place where they increased it. Sure, they could be petty, but it sure beat having actual dangers threatening you. I¡¯ve been in places like that and had no desire to go back. I grimaced at the thought. It may not sound good, but if I am truthful with myself I¡¯m no hero. I just want to live my life and let others live theirs.


    I offered the stone flower to Mowris who took it and spun it every which way looking at it. ¡°That¡¯s incredible! The detail is amazing! Did you add the little bug?¡± She asked. I nodded ¡°Yea. It felt like it needed something.¡± I said distractedly, watching another couple small light purple spirits float past.


    Noting my distraction she asked ¡°Something wrong?¡±


    ¡°I have a bad feeling. Let¡¯s head this way.¡± I pointed the direction one of the spirits, a pale purple form flitting into view to the right, flowing quickly down the road, through the corner of a building.


    ¡°Hey Baz!¡± said a friendly voice nearby. I waved distractedly at Jimmy focusing on following the spirit. Suddenly my concentration was broken by a cry up ahead. ¡°NECROMANCER!¡±

 Dog attack

    ¡°Necromancer!¡± A strong, shrill cry cut through the evening air somewhere ahead of us. Leaping forward we ran toward the cry. ¡°Go. I¡¯ll catch up.¡± Mowris said waving me on. I was already pulling ahead as I didn¡¯t think it wise to wait on her. Without glancing back I picked up more speed. The noise ahead built, punctuated by shouting.


    Increasing my breathing reflexively as I¡¯d been taught from a young age, I panted though physical exertion did not seem to affect me much. Ahead of me sprawled a mob. At least ten people had converted into a mass of swinging arms, kicking legs and angry noise. A young lady vomited convulsively on her knees to the right, her eyes streaming as she crawled away from the mob. A few feet to the left of her Crai, Elven huntsman and renowned woodworker faced a meaty mass only barely still recognizable as the Silversmith¡¯s dog. There was no way it looked like that and still lived. It seemed to have died at some point but apparently decided not to let death slow it down. Crai¡¯s staff was ready between himself and it. Around all of this pale green and purple spirits swirled like an intangible whirlwind.


    The spirit¡¯s images cut across my mind in its version of a yell. Roughly translated it said ¡°End this abomination! This cannot be allowed!¡± While it considers almost every living thing an affront it seemed much more angry about this. Energy crashed through me leaving me feel jittery and charged up. Ready for action.


    The dog stood on three legs. The exposed meat a greyish green color from a death it had to have experienced at least a couple days ago. It faced Crai, one eye socket entirely empty, the other had its eye hanging out of it. Its flesh was exposed from the top of its head down across most of its torso. The missing fur stretched like a dragging blanket from its body, over to the fourth leg which drug, wrapped in the fur behind it.


    Against all reason the dead dog bunched itself and leapt, snapping at Crai. Deftly spinning out of the way, the stout staff blurring in Crai¡¯s hand as it smashed down on top of the beast¡¯s back, slamming the beast to the ground. It struggled awkwardly to rise on its three legs as Crai¡¯s staff spun and danced smacking the dog repeatedly in the face and shoulders driving it back.


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    Off to the side of the nightmare dog, Garen Silversmith, a large man, primary benefactor to the village and what currently served as its only lender of money stood in the middle of a throng of raised fists and voices. Shock, anger and confusion warred on his countenance. His protests lost in the sound of the panicked mob. I saw him rock forward from a blow to the back of his head, disappearing into the crowd with a cry. A person on the other side of the mob ran from the crowd.


    Raising the watch horn to my lips I blew a long, sharp note to call other watch to the area. Drawing my sword I raced toward the dog. Another horn took up the call close by, probably Mowris from the direction of the sound. Standing beside Crai we faced the horror of a dog. Its skull now dented, rib bone fully showing in a couple spots where Crais¡¯ staff and crushed the meat off the creature. The zombie dog crouched, a rattling, grating growl rolled from its jaws as it faced its two opponents.


    The growl cut short and it dropped, like a puppet with its strings cut. Glancing at Crai I saw he looked confused too. Crai brought his staff down on the dogs head. The force of the blow crushed the skull between the staff and the stone of the road, spraying a mess of bone shards and meaty remains around the impact. A distorted, stretched out spirit rose from the body quickly reforming into the normal spirit blob shape then zipped toward the crowd. Now that was definitely odd.


    Mowris arrived on the scene, flush from the run. She concentrated a moment made a few gestures and circled the end of her horn with her finger. Oh boy. I covered my ears and turned away from her. I could feel the sonic blast from her horn ripple through my body. Everyone in the crowd grabbed their heads. Some staggered away and several fell over curling up in a balls. Well I guess that crowd is dispersed.


    Looking the direction of the runner I didn¡¯t see them. A loose group was running the way he had gone which was toward the Silversmiths house. Glancing back with the dispersing crowd I could see Arla struggling. Screaming frantically pushing and punching at Garen Silversmith she fought to get out from under him. Panicked as she was the struggle to remove the large man was futile.


    Mowris grabbed her under her shoulders and trying to pull her out from under Garen. Garen for his part flopped bonelessly.  A misty spirit rose from Garen, flitting frantically around the body. I shook my head. This was turning into less than a good day. My guess was that the group of people that had headed toward the Silversmiths weren¡¯t heading that direction to offer help in this trying time. I wasn¡¯t needed here anymore so I ran toward what I suspected to be the next mess.

 The Silversmiths

    Shouting ahead grew louder as I skidded around the corner. Evan, the Silversmiths adopted teenage son, stood at the top of the brick stair leading to the Silversmiths house. Just coming of age he possessed the wiry frame of some teens. He clutched the ornate metal rail on both sides of the stair like they were the only things keeping him from flying away. Bending forward, eyes clenching shut he screamed ¡°Leave them alone!¡± at the mob at the base of the stair.


    His hunched forward posture, head whipping back and forth immediately conjured an image of a dragon breathing fire in my mind. The crowd looked put off by the display as well. Brave kid. Some of the guys in that crowd were easily double his size.


    ¡°Are you guarding this necromancer¡¯s den, boy?¡± A large, burly man growled, his intimidating word and tone betrayed by his nervous step forward and glancing around to see if the crowd was still backing him. The crowd shifted anxiously, poised for violence but still standing a bit away from Evan. They glanced back and forth a each other for support, the people in the back obviously there to spectate.


    ¡°Calm down, everyone.¡± I started to say. A cry of ¡°Necromancer!¡± cut into my words as a stone arced toward Evan from the group. It caught him in the shoulder rocking him backwards. I snatched my horn as Evan¡¯s eyes flashed open, expression hard and angry. Several members of the group stooped apparently deciding stones seemed like a good option.


    A blast ripped from my horn startling the group. Stones clattered on the ground as they were dropped. Evan¡¯s hard glare swung to me, quickly turning to relief. His knees folded under him, his head bowing as he sagged.


    If I¡¯d been a bit slower getting here Evan might¡¯ve been stoned to death. How can people be like this? The thought scared me and made me angry. Any excuse to become a violent mess. The spirit spoke to me in its way ¡°These people are scared. They are willing to kill to protect those they love.¡± Glancing to the side and my eyes rolled my eyes when I saw it was green. ¡°Of course this kind of shit would make you cheerful.¡± I thought at it. ¡°Life is fascinating¡± it replied enigmatically.


    Drawing my sword I stepped towards Evan. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking Evan in. You all need to disburse.¡± I said making shooing motions at the crowd with my free hand. Jorn, a big guy up front raised an eyebrow. He sneered at me stepping directly in front of me. ¡°I should¡¯ve known the half-blood would come to rescue the necromancers.¡± He said clenching his fists. A few brows around him wrinkled as they tried on this thought.


    ¡°This one is weak. It seeks attention.¡± Came the thought from my spirit. Jorn was definitely not weak. He was a large man used to intimidating others and had a history of violence, though what the spirit said resonated in an odd way.


    ¡°So, Jorn¡± I said calmly. ¡°you really want to stop a member of the watch in the execution of their duty?¡± I asked. I hoped he would take a swing. I was far faster than he was and would not mind impressing on someone that bullied others that size wasn¡¯t everything.


    ¡°Pfah! Children playing at being adults!¡± He growled at me. I shrugged. ¡°And yet you¡± I paused and pointedly looked at several others in the group ¡°and any who would join you will spend real, adult time in jail.¡± I nodded, smiling wryly at him. His shoulder muscles tensed. A calm descended over me as it always does before a battle. Everything seemed to become sharper, crisper and slow down. Knowing him he could explode at any moment.


    It seemed to take a moment for that thought to crawl its way across his mind, but he rallied drawing himself up. ¡°I¡¯ll not allow necromancers to walk free in my village!¡± He cried sounding almost patriotic, raising his fist as he looked around at the others around him which dutifully nodded their encouragement at him.


    ¡°You intend to stop the necromancers by stopping the watch from doing its job? How does that work?¡± He sneered at me and drew back his hand as though he planned to backhand me but before he moved or responded I heard heavy steps come from the alleyway I had come down. Jorn glanced over my shoulder and relaxed.


    ¡°Dad. We have this.¡± Ocran said tiredly as he approached. While Jorn was large, Ocran was huge. Jorn hmphed. ¡°Glad you¡¯re here! We made sure no one¡¯s left the¡­¡± he paused a moment and his face lit up as inspiration struck. ¡°Necromancers nest!¡± he cried dramatically ¡°We can hold out here while your team goes in.¡± He said nodding, looking at those around him encouraging them to agree with him.


    ¡°We have this.¡± Ocran reiterated. ¡°Go home everyone.¡± He added making shooing motions at them. Most of the group turned and walked away. Jorn glanced around ¡°Yea! You heard Ocran! He and his team have everything under control!¡± He called at the groups retreating backs. Oh that really just burned me up! It wasn¡¯t good enough when I told them. They needed someone twice their body weight to tell them. Shaking my head I stormed up the stairs, grabbing Evan by the elbow roughly and steering him into the house.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to go locate the rest of the family, Evan.¡± Evan simply turned a curious look on me then he winced as my grip tightened and I jerked him toward the door. That just made me feel worse. Now I was being the bully, I sighed inwardly. ¡°Sorry¡± I sighed and loosened my grip as we stepped across the threshold.


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    Silence greeted us as we stepped into the house. ¡°Mrs. Silversmith!¡± I called. I glanced around at the shiny, rich wood floors. The ornate carved framework and trim. There was silver inlaid in the flooring and accents in the trim throughout the large house! Silver! In the floor! That¡¯s crazy. So this is what it¡¯s like to be rich and powerful, I thought to myself shaking my head.


    The Silversmiths are reputed to be key in the mythology surrounding the founding of this town. Story was that the founding group had staggered into the clearing at the base of the mountain in need of rest and food. On the other side of the clearing stood the Mountain and Forest Lords. Greater spirits surrounded by denizens of their realms. Trolls, kobolds, stone men and such for the Mountain Lord. Boar, stag, bear and sundry other animals for the Forest Lord. The group was charged with trespassing, their lives to be forfeit.


    Twin brothers came forward making themselves an offering to the two Great Spirits. They would serve or die willingly if they let the group go back the way they came. The two Great Spirits communed in their fashion and accepted the offerings. The Spirits vanity had been addressed in the offerings and it seemed they were interested in seeing how humans acted and lived. Each of Spirit touched one of the brothers, chaining them and their blood to the place and Spirit that touched them. In return they would allow the people to settle here.


    The Forest Lord drew a line in the forest floor. A river sprang up in the mark. This would be the forest boundary of the town. The Mountain Lord scooped out a section at the base of the mountain with his hand, extending the area into the base of his mountain. This marked the boundary on his side of the town. Both offered their realms bounty to the brother they touched. The Mountain Lord poked a hole in the mountain beside the town. This was a silver mine that was given over to the brother touched by The Mountain Lord. The Forest Lord gave hunting rights within his forests to brother he had touched. In return the town would respect and honor the two lords.


    At least that was what I remembered of the myth. Regardless of its truth the Silversmiths were the preeminent family in the town. When there was silver it flowed through the Silversmiths. The silver dried up with the death of the Mountain Lords chosen. The Forest Lords chosen left Silveren, leaving their family in the Silversmith house and was never heard from again.


    A sound called me back to the current situation. Evan had plunked down in one of the chairs in the living room, lost in his own thoughts, concern and worry plain on his face. The living room was spotless and orderly. Everything seemed in its place as I scanned the rooms. The house was kept spotless. Houses like this creep me out. They look like no one lives in them. Always seems kind of eerie to me. Like the people living there were just ghosts, unable to interact with the things around them. I sauntered through the dining room and into the kitchen.


    The kitchen was at the back of the house, a door to the yard faced the wood at the back. Little traces of silver seemed to weave in and out of the patterns in the wood of the door frame. I took a moment to admire the intricacy of the work. Movement through the window caught my attention. I watched two figures racing for the woods. As Solern and her daughter made it to the edge of the woods an unnaturally large buck stepped out to greet them. They put their hands to its side and it led them into the forest.


    I shook my head. If the Forest Lord was involved no one would be able to find them which I guess is good. Being a Lord of Life he would have no tolerance for necromancy, so that said something about them as well. I chewed on the thought of the Forest Lord, an ancient, greater spirit that hadn¡¯t played a role in this society in many human generations, involving its self as I continued the now mock search. Spirit involvement was trouble, the greater the spirit the greater the trouble.


    ¡°Is the place always this clean?¡± I called out. There was no answer. I could hear quiet movement in the living room. Heading back to complete the downstairs circuit I popped open the pantry, wondering at the ornate door frame. This frame even more ornate than the back door. They must love their pantry. That pantry was packed! I gazed over what had to be the results of decades of canning. Glass jars of many different shades and hues covered the floor and shelves in orderly little color coordinated rows in this narrow room.


    Shaking my head I closed the door and approached Evan. He was standing in front of a desk. The desk had to be Crai¡¯s work. No one could make wood flow and look as seamless as Crai. The man was not so much a craftsman as an artist whose medium was wood.


    The house was furnished, as to be expected, very nicely. Graceful legs and arms and plush cushions greeted the eye wherever you looked. What I didn¡¯t expect was at least five different pieces from Crai. His work was legendary and carried a hefty price. The pieces looked seamless when closed, handles, latches and lids becoming whorls in the wood requiring close inspection to find all but the most worn of them. Even for the wealthy Silversmiths I was impressed.


    I supposed I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, money and power has its privilege. People in the poor quarter work their tails off, some only in hopes of filling their bellies, while others coast through life because of an accident of birth. I¡¯m not saying that some of those people in the poor sector didn¡¯t earn where they are, but all of them had to make choices that people like the Silversmiths would never be faced with and would never understand.


    We had just finished looking around upstairs. I turned to Evan and said ¡°Looks like they¡¯re out. Perhaps visiting relatives elsewhere?¡± I asked. Evan¡¯s looked at me, searching my face for something and finally nodded.


    His face went hard. ¡°What will you do with me?¡± he asked his voice coming raspy and harsh. I replied ¡°I¡¯m thinking it will be safer for you down at the Mayor¡¯s jail right now.¡± His face pinched a moment in distaste as he thought about this. After a moment he sighed, ¡°Yea, that¡¯s probably best.¡± He said, shaking his head


    The lines on his face softened as he asked ¡°Is Garen¡­¡± the words catching in his throat. The boy¡¯s eyes begged for an answer that I could not give. He deserved to find out without an audience.


    I shook my head, mouth tight. ¡°He¡¯s dead, Evan.¡± He glanced at me when I called him Evan. For a moment he was completely still, eyes wide, then he grabbed his head, tears streaming down his face, sobbing as he sagged to his knees. Ugh. I¡¯m terrible at comfort. I reached down, putting my hand on his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sor-¡± I started.


    ¡°SHUTUP!¡± Evan yelled, hands to his shaking head ¡°Why?!?... Nononoooo¡± he trailed off, slumping forward, his elbows hitting the floor. I stepped back, drawing back my hand. I sighed and sat on a nearby chair to wait the rage and sorrow out.


    The rage and sorrow eventually burned out leaving a hollow, hiccupping shell. I led Evan down the stairs and out the front door. Evan¡¯s head was bent forward, back bent as he shuffled forward.


    Thankfully the crowd was gone. Ocran¡¯s large frame easily taking up the space that a few of the crowd had taken. Mowris stood to his side. Her face troubled, looking over Evan. Evan¡¯s head never came up, he was lost internally and had no time for trivial external details right now.


    Ocran nodded to me and turning, walked forward. Evan and I fell in behind him, Mowris brought up the rear as we walked toward the Mayor¡¯s jail.

 Jail Time

    Mayor Skandro¡¯s place was a large stone building that was part of the mayor¡¯s appointment to his position. The bottom level was the jail, which was rarely used and even then typically to house the drunk of the night until they sobered up. The jail was sunk most of the way into the ground, access to its heavy, iron bound, wooden door at the end of a stone ramp cut into the stone at the side of the building while the front entrance to the mayor¡¯s house was at the top of the stairs around the other side.


    Ocran reached forward to rap on the door. ¡°Ocran¡± he said after a few moments. The slat covering the small, bar covered window slid to the side. The door clicked and swung silently outward, forcing us to take a step back. We stepped into a small stone room, barred windows presented a view into the room on either side of them. Nikki, one of the mayor''s elite guards was visible through the right window, looking at us.


    Both of the elites had a gift. Nikki is an empath. She had two little, gray spirits that had attached themselves to her. She could read surface thoughts or tell truth from a lie. This alone made her a valuable asset. On top of this she was one wicked fighter. She could use her thought reading skill to counter her opponents moves as they made them. Nikki is good and difficult to best.


    This was no small compliment from me. I¡¯ve trained much of my life with my mother, in Kodef battle arts, starting as most Kodef do. As soon as they can stand. I can say, with humility, that I¡¯m good by my peoples standards. My trainer is exceptional and my natural talents allow me to pick up things quickly and practice relentlessly.


    Nikki¡¯s ability also meant that I had to be very careful with my thoughts around her to hide my abilities. My mother had mercilessly drilled this caution into me. When I struck out on my own part of my little rebellion had been to confide my abilities in a friend. He died trying to take my life almost immediately after. Belief and superstition¡­ its power is insane. As we stepped in I schooled my thoughts toward the recent events, running the battle through my head.


    Once the outside door closed she came around and opened the door ahead of us, letting us into the entry area of the jail. It was a good-sized room with little in the way of furnishings. The surrounding walls had a stone outcropping at the base that could be used as a bench. This base went all the way around the room, interrupted only by the three other doors that led from this room. Each door was another heavy wood, metal bound door, similar to the outside door. A sickly, pale light shed by magic globes held in small metal cages suspended from the ceiling. I know it was to protect the expensive globes from those that may be brought into the room, but it always struck me that here even the light was imprisoned. The light shed wasn¡¯t bright, but it was enough for our group to make out the room and each other in, well, for a human anyway. Being Elven I could see as though the room were lit by daylight, though I shuffled along just like Ocran, who was human. It was reflexive anymore to act as though I were similarly affected by things like those around me. The door we headed to lie straight ahead. I had been led through these doors before. I was probably the most recent person held here on criminal charges. In this case we were putting someone in jail to keep them safe from the people outside rather than the other way around which struck me as odd.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Evan quietly walked through the doorway and into the cell that was opened for him. These rooms had the same sparse d¨¦cor as the outer room. A stone bench jut from the wall. The floor sloped slightly to a small drain in the center of the room. The door to Evans cell closed with a rattle, followed by a clank as Nikki turned the key in the lock. Evan walked over and settled himself on the bench, never raising his head to look at anyone. I followed Mowris through the doorway to the jail, Ocran and Nikki following me. The silence was notable. Nikki rarely spoke, actually neither of the elites spoke much, but usually Mowris was fairly chatty.


    ¡°Thanks for showing up so quickly¡± I said jolting Mowris and Ocran out of their personal reveries. Ocran, nodded. Mowris smiled. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I saw you head toward the Silversmith¡¯s place. You are even quicker than I gave you credit for.¡± She said smiling.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I was.¡± I said. ¡°Evan was facing down a mob and almost got stoned trying to protect his house.¡± The image of Jorn¡¯s nervousness facing Evan came back to me. I glanced at Ocran ¡°I¡¯ve never seen your dad shy away from¡± I trailed off as I realized I had not thought through what I was saying and wasn¡¯t keen on offending Ocran talking about his dad. I might not be a fan of Ocran¡¯s dad, but Ocran was a good guy in my books. ¡°Violence? Using his muscle to ¡®solve¡¯ things?¡± Ocran offered. I shrugged and nodded feeling a bit uncomfortable.


    Mowris jumped in ¡°It was a kid.¡± Behind her Ocran pulled a sour face. He turned his head and muttered ¡°Never stopped him before.¡± So softly my elven hearing barely picked it up. My mind reeled. Everyone saw Ocran the giant but for a moment my mind saw a little boy growing up with a man that expressed everything physically.


    Mowris plowed on oblivious to Ocrans comment. ¡°It was also Grim.¡± she said nodding toward Evan. ¡°He¡¯s cursed. Everything erk!¡± She choked off, spinning around to glare at Ocran who had patted her on the back hard enough to shove her forward. Ocran smoothly jumped into the spot of silence as Mowris drew a breath ¡°He¡¯s had a rough spot growing up and people can be superstitious.¡± Ocran said. Mowris rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry at him. Her counterpoint dying on her lips as he added ¡°He probably could use a bit of quiet now.¡± and nudged her toward the door. ¡°Hmph.¡± was her response as she spun on her heel fast enough for her hair to fly out before strutting toward the door. I glanced between the two of them wondering what wasn¡¯t being said here. Sounds like the kid had a rough life and people decided to go and make it harder on him by hanging some superstition around his neck.


    Nikki crossed by me, glancing at me and took a left, disappearing through one of the other doors. As it opened, I caught sight of a bare foot hanging limply off the edge of a table. Glancing away I suppressed a shudder and followed Ocran and Mowris though the door.


    As good as my eyesight is in even those dim confines, I was quite glad to be out in the sunlight, breeze on my skin reminding me I¡¯m alive. ¡°Come on, Baz.¡± Ocran called to me. ¡°The rest of the team has been called up to the mayor¡¯s. Looks like we¡¯re gonna draw active pay while this gets straight.¡±


    The Watch was a group selected through active competition from the town. We draw a stipend to carry a small horn around our necks and blow on it when we see some wrongdoing. The competition for positions is high because most see the stipend as free money with little risk. There¡¯s not too much action in this little town. The watch acts when it¡¯s necessary and get called into active duty as needed. When on active duty we draw a more substantial pay. While the money is good, the reason for the money never is.

 The team and mayor

    The entry room was a large room with chairs in the corners, a couple wall hangings and a simple secretary desk, the writing surface folded up to cover and simple drawers with some light ornamentation.  The was fairly well filled with our small watch group.


    The mayor watched me take my place in the back and cleared his throat.  ¡°Needless to say, you are called into active duty.¡± Normally being told you were getting more money is cause for celebration but the mayor didn¡¯t have to wait for noises of excitement to calm.  Faces here displayed a mix of worry, anxiety and fear.  He continued stating to the group ¡°Today a man has died due to mass panic.¡±  He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose.  He and Garen had been friends.   This had to be hard on him, yet outside of small gestures like this you wouldn¡¯t know his pain.


    His voice did not waver or crack as he continued ¡°Nerves are shot, the town is entirely spooked.  We need to ensure nothing sparks further witch hunts.  This town still bears the scars and memories of the old necromancer.  Each generation since the stories have gotten darker and more gruesome.¡±  He shook his head, looking over the watch members.  ¡°The dog could¡¯ve been the trick of a fickle spirit¡­ Or¡± he paused, shrugging ¡°there could very well be a necromancer among us again.¡± Skandro paused, measuring the effect of his words.  ¡°I don¡¯t know.  And the mob that ended a man¡¯s life?  They didn¡¯t know either.¡±


    ¡°Have any of you seen anything odd over the last several days?¡±  He walked back and forth in front of the group checking our faces for any indication that we had some info for him.  People glanced at one another or shook their heads.  ¡°New halfer in the poor quarter.¡± Bran said.  I ground my teeth in frustration.  It wasn¡¯t that he noted that there was a new person, it was that it was a ¡®halfer¡¯ and that it was said as though the case were closed, mystery solved.


    Bran called anyone that had anyone of mixed blood a halfer.  He had outright stated that halfers were the result of unnatural perversion caused by interfering spirits.  Obviously nothing like that could happen through love.  And while the mayor seemed to view the poor quarter with distaste, Bran looked there for every problem and actively pushed to have its people run off.  The few times he patrolled the poor sector people got bullied or worse, beaten usually due to some ¡°suspicious behavior¡±.


    ¡°Hm. It is good to note anyone new to our community.¡± Skandro said.  ¡°I¡¯ll check it out!¡± blurted Bran.  Skandro nodded ¡°You and Baz will look into that.  I will send Baz to meet you once I¡¯ve talked with him, Mowris and Ocran.¡±  Bran huffed unhappily.  He and I did not get along, not only because his views on the poor quarter which would be enough to put the two of us at odds, but I am a ¡®halfer¡¯.  The accident and circumstance of my birth was a sin I apparently could not be forgiven of.  I¡¯ve told him next time I would choose a different more acceptable race and while I was at it a wealthy family to be born into.  I don¡¯t think he believes me.


    ¡°Our first goal is to calm the populace.¡± The mayor stated. ¡°We need to show them that we are out there in force, keeping them safe so they don¡¯t feel the need to take matters into their own hands again.  You will be out there to make sure nothing else sparks another killing.  Keep your ears open and your mouths closed.  No need to feed them anything to fan their fear.  We¡¯ve seen how they react to facing their fears.  If we do face an enemy it has already caused us to kill one of our own because I can promise you that Garen was no necromancer.¡±


    ¡°Each of you¡± he pointed to a few groups ¡°go to your areas and patrol. At the end of your patrols, notify the others who will take over¡±  People turned to their partners and started working out details amongst themselves.   He raised his voice over the rising noise ¡°No one travels alone!  Keep your horns handy and everyone keep alert.  If you hear a horn townspeople and your team members could be in grave danger.  Everyone needs to answer immediately.  Keep an eye out for any unusual activity.  If you see anything, do not engage unless someone¡¯s life is in immediate danger.  Get help immediately.  Report back here each night.  Let me know of anything odd you see or hear out there.¡± As people began filing out he glanced around seeing me added ¡°Baz, Mowris, Ocran¡± he said nodding to each of us in turn.  He looked at me. ¡°Baz, I understand you were first on the scene.¡±  I nodded.  ¡°Then I will take you first.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Mowris shot me a concerned glance.  Most consider me an ¡®honorary¡¯ watch member.  Someone that the mayor raised out of the poor sector in his generosity.  A charity case.  Truth is I was blackmailed into joining them, but I¡¯d stopped holding that against them a while back.  Mowris seemed to have a soft spot for the underdog and I was fine with that.  I smiled back at her to let her know all was good.


    Skandro turned and walked through a doorway leading further into the building.  The front door closed, the sounds of people descending the outside stair and the murmur of their conversation faded to nothingness.  Silence fell on the room as I got up and followed the mayor through the door.  The mayor sat at a desk readying his ink.  He motioned to the seat beside the desk.  Nikki stood behind him, watching me as I entered the room and sat in the chair.


    Skandro glanced at me, pen on paper.  ¡°Why were you there, Baz?¡±  ¡°Someone shrieked ¡®Necromancer¡¯.  The sound was panicked, raw.  I was on patrol nearby so I was able to respond quickly¡±  I answered.  Skandro was writing. Without looking up he asked ¡°Whose voice was it?¡±  Keeping my mind on the uncertainty of identifying a shrieking voice in the distance I simply answered ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Though I was pretty sure that voice belonged to Arla.  I¡¯m not entirely sure at my reticence.  I guess I would rather follow up on that one myself without throwing someone out there without being sure.


    The mayor took me through the entire encounter, requesting details of sometimes seemingly odd items, such as what the girl was throwing up. I was used to this, having gone through the ritual with the mayor a good number of times and answered all the questions, providing the detail I could.  As I sat there answering questions my eyes played over the desk.  The lines of the desk suggested that it had grown this way.  No seam was visible or obvious, the grain flowed from one part to the next.  Darker and lighter woods were inlaid forming natural looking designs which hid drawers and other compartments.  ¡°If I could create furniture half this nice I would be set¡±, I thought as I answered another question almost automatically while another part of my brain continued wandering. I had asked about the desk once, envious, but thinking a desk made by Crai a bit extravagant, even for the mayor and I had been right.  The desk was a gift.  I wondered what it would take to get a piece of furniture Crai made as a gift.  I sure wasn¡¯t buying one on my salary.


    When I first started working for the Mayor he would stop me constantly asking about details that I had seen but my mind had simply absorbed as background.  This was frustrating and difficult.  After working with the mayor for about a year now the mayor tended to ask fewer questions.  My recall of items had sharpened until I could describe a scene I had witnessed down to minute details, even if I had only seen it for a short time.  I finished and waited while the mayor wrapped up his notes.  He finished writing my notes, set down a new page and looked to Nikki, pen poised.  ¡°What did you get from Evan?¡± He asked.


    ¡°He seems pretty shook up.¡± She said ¡°He blames himself, stating that Garen died because of his curse.  I didn¡¯t get much from him besides remorse, frustration, confusion and anger.  It¡¯s a hard mix to read but not unexpected under the circumstances.  I mentioned to him that Garen left him the lending business as you asked.  His reaction was immediately anger and frustration.  If he did it, he didn¡¯t do it to take over the business.  He actually said you should¡¯ve been given the business, Mayor, and I am pretty sure he meant it.¡±  She paused a moment then added ¡°I also found no magic on him.¡± Her ability also lets her detect the presence of magic.  She told me once that magic had an aura that she could see when she focused.  This had come up when she was talking with me about what I did with magic.  I apparently didn¡¯t rate an aura but she said that was pretty normal for those with abilities.  It didn¡¯t make them innately magic.  That was good, she had noted, laughing.  It would make her job hard if people wandered around looking like they had a magical item on them when it was just an ability.


    The mayor nodded, continuing to write.  ¡°Baz, keep your eye out.  If there is an actual necromancer out there we need to root them out fast.  Keep the Forest Lords appearance to yourself.  I don¡¯t want old legends crawling out of the wood, stirring up any zealotry in the middle of all this.  Perhaps he¡¯s just taking care of his own, but his appearance makes me to think we aren¡¯t done with this mess yet.  Be careful out there.¡±  He looked up, setting his pen down.  ¡°Please send Mowris in.¡±


    As Mowris headed toward the mayor Ocran called out to me.  ¡°Meet up with Bran before he decides to wander around in the poor quarter on his own.  Nodding I headed out, not looking forward to an evening with Bran.

 Home?

    I left the mayors house, heading to my apartment.  Rounding the corner of my building I mentally sifted through all of the things that happened today.  Trying to figure out next steps, order events in a way I could make sense of what was happening.  All those thoughts got thrown into disarray as my mind tried to make sense of the scene in front of me.


    All of my belongings were piled up outside of my door.  Looking at it baffled I tried the door and found it locked.  My key wouldn¡¯t open it.  I headed up to the landlady¡¯s.  Knocking at Arla¡¯s door a couple times got no response.  I knocked again, rubbing my hands together as the evening cool started to creep into them.  There was still no response.  Shaking my head in confusion I turned, gathered some essentials out of the pile of my stuff and headed toward the poor sector.


    A scruffy dwarf hailed me heartily as he wandered into the area.  ¡°Hey, Baz!  What¡¯re ya bringin to us this evenin?¡±  I smiled at my old friend.  ¡°Myself apparently, Budor.¡±  ¡°Ya don¡¯t say?¡± Budor responded cocking his head and regarding me.  ¡°So the townsfolk get tired of a troublesome halfer?¡±  Budor had known I was a half-elf the first time he had seen me and at the time I wore an illusion to hide it.  From him ¡®halfer¡¯ was a mark of familiarity allowed due to friendship.  Actually I¡¯m not sure what I would do if the crusty old bastard didn¡¯t raz me in some way when we met.  It all boils down to intent.  ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.  I got back tonight and my stuff was outside my apartment and I can¡¯t unlock the door.  I guess I¡¯ve overstayed my welcome.¡± I said shrugging, confused and angry. ¡°Was coming back to see if my old crash pad was open.¡±  Frustration making that come out more petulantly than I intended.


    The poor sector was a shanty town where you found or built your own shelter.  There was no ownership here that the law would protect.  In fact, this was an area that caused me some frustration with the Mayor who seemed to want to ignore the poor sector.  Perhaps he thought if he ignored it and covered it up enough, it wouldn¡¯t exist.  I spent a good amount of time with these people, in fact this is where I started when I came into this town.


    Budor, glanced at me.  ¡°You made that spot highly desirable.  It¡¯s clean and well built.  You even put some style in it.  Looks nice inside ¡®n out.  It¡¯s taken now.  How bout you stay with us for tonight?¡± motioning to the sheltered hole around the side of the rock that he and 2 other dwarves called home.  I should have known my spot would be taken.  I remember feeling pride over the competition over my place when I left.  My mind was just reeling from all the stuff that happened today and I wasn¡¯t thinking clearly.


    My shoulders sagged in the realization that I really didn¡¯t have anywhere else to go.  Even so sharing a hole in the ground with three dwarves definitely was not something I looked forward to, but prepping a spot in the poor quarter at this hour that didn¡¯t leave me exposed to the elements was unlikely.  Especially if I plan to get any patrolling in tonight.  At least that would limit my time snuggled up in a small dirt hole to three snoring dwarves. With this chilling image in mind, my brain spat up a last line of defense while it scrambled for other options ¡°Thank you but I thought your hole was reserved for dwarves only.¡± I said.  As I said it alien thoughts bubbled up ¡°Interesting way to think of a friend trying to help you when others have put in you a bad position.¡±  Budor gave me a speculative look ¡°I¡¯m thinkin yer other ¡®alf is dwarf.¡± The dwarf replied with a wink.  His expression sobered as he continued ¡°Ya dun a lotta good fer the folk aroun here.  I would be shamed ta leave ya out in the cold.  ¡®sides, we¡¯ve picked up summa yer recipes from the nights you come round to help feed the lot round here.  It¡¯s only fair.¡±


    I nodded to him feeling ashamed.  I braced myself for a rough night but at least I would spend it with friends.  I had gotten used to ignoring the spirit follower I couldn¡¯t seem to lose but for once, it was right.  I wandering around the rock, getting ready to crawl through the hole.


    The entrance to the dwarven lair was little more than a hole in the hillside.  Budor had to stoop to go through it, so I definitely could not enter it walking.  Pushing my clothing through ahead of me, I crawled forward through a rough hole bordered by large rounded rocks into a dark pocket in the ground.  As my eyes adjusted to the dark, my ability to see in the dark picked out that it was a small pocket in the earth, smaller than I would¡¯ve thought actually.


    Budor was had preceded me to the other wall, opening a door that looked like a large rock embedded in the wall.  At a push of Budor¡¯s hand the stone swung silently open.  Beyond it a large, well-lit room opened up before me.  Budor hollered to his two companions ¡°Baz is gonna be stayin with us!  ¡®E¡¯s needin some ¡®elp gettin ¡®is stuff from in front of ¡®is place¡±.  I crawled forward a bit more when three sets of dwarven hands grabbed me and pulled me the rest way through the door, helping me stand up in the larger room.  Guntle and Aggie  headed out the door I had just been pulled through.  As they left they closed the door effectively plugging the hole entirely.


    I stood there gaping and looking around in wonder, amazed I could stand and at the size of the room.  ¡°Ya look surprised lad!  Ya spect we¡¯ve been huddling in what would amount to an animal den?¡±  I scratched my head feeling more than a little embarrassed, ¡°Well, I guess I kind of did.¡±  Budor laughed cheerily ¡°No proper dwarf would live in the ground and not make it ¡®is ¡®ome.  Ta be fair though, it¡¯s good ta ¡®ear.  It¡¯s what we want ¡®em thinkin.¡±


    ¡°We did figure we might need ta ¡®ouse some larger folk one day, plus we just like some room above us really.¡± He waved above at the ceiling which was high enough that I was comfortable. ¡°Like ¡®umans in that respect I guess.¡±  Budor shrugged, glancing my way. ¡°This is the common room.  Mainly use it ta make offerins to the mountain lord.¡± He said motioning to a shrine that covered one entire wall.


    The detail on the shrine far surpassed any other mountain shrine that I¡¯d seen.  From a distance all of these shrines look like a mountain.  As you get closer you can make out the detail of a large man sitting cross-legged that makes up the mountain.  The poorer shrines stop there.  Others the man¡¯s body will hold some smaller images, extolling the wealth and dangers of the mountain.  This one even his large beard held images within them of men, deep dwelling creatures, some victims of landslides or cave ins, other holding aloft prizes such as gems and metals, each of which were actually inlaid gems and precious metals.  I realized there were even images in between, giants and dragons which were made up of the smaller images and made up the image of the larger Mountain Lord.  In the lap of the Mountain lord was a hollowed out platter, also adorned with all manner of creatures detailing it that served as an offering plate for those that would give tribute to the Mountain Lord.  I had a feeling that there were other images I was missing, even more subtle and complex.


    ¡°Spirits Budor!  This is glorious!¡± I breathed.  I reached for my coin pouch emptying about half its meager contents into the bowl in way of thanks and recognition of the incredible craftsmanship.  ¡°Thank ya, Baz.  Kids these days, so full o¡¯ themselves.  Lookin to prove ¡®ow self-sufficient they are, ¡®ow they stand up on their own and need nu¡¯in from no one.  They don¡¯t take the time to understand where they came from and ¡®ow they got to where they could stand up on their own.  Too busy runnin away from a past that they think shames ¡®em I guess.¡±  Budor glanced at Baz.


    ¡°We ¡®aven¡¯t forgotten.  The Mountain Lord was once beseeched!  And in return for proper respect, gave this village a place to be.  A way to make money too.  A way that gave Silveren its name.¡± Still awed by the statue, I almost reflexively parroted what I had heard in a soft voice ¡°But then he took it all away, didn¡¯t he?  What did they do to cause that?¡±  Budor¡¯s gruff harrumph shocked me out of contemplation of ancient history.  I turned and looked to the dwarf but Budor had turned away.  Shaking his head he waved for me to follow as he headed down a corridor.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The dwarf tromped through the stone hall, pointed to a door. ¡°Yer room!¡± I thanked him and  entered the room. The bed was a stone platform that raised from the floor and had wooden drawers that pulled out of stone framework below it.  There was a mattress that hung from hooks on the wall.  The walls around had open niches forming shelves all around the room.  Turning to walk out I was interrupted by a knock at the door.  Answering it I found Guntle and Aggie loaded down with the rest of my worldly belongings.  ¡°Ah¡­  Just set em down.  I¡¯ll take care of them shortly.  Thank you so much for bringing my stuff¡± I said.  The two of them stepped in and placed everything on the floor near the door.  They didn¡¯t say anything, just smiled, or at least it¡¯s the motion in their beards that I¡¯ve come to associate with smiling.  They nodded and backed out of the room, heading down the hall.


    Pushing the stuff to the side I stepped out and headed back outside.  Budor stood past the boulder where he could often be found.  There was a fire going and he had the massive pot on it.  In the poor sector the group pooled resources for food.  The dwarves and I had taken on the brunt of supplying the actual food and coordinating the effort, adding things others trapped or found out in the wilds.  The dwarves had this system in place long before I showed up.  They requested people bring them supplies, took those and worked with the people to craft specific items in return for knowing there was a regular dinner and full belly at the end of the day.  People who society had tossed aside or just flat out ignored found themselves busy, and as things progressed they learned skills, started taking pride in themselves and found the self-worth that society had worked to steal from them.  Many left for other towns to start over once they realized they had a craft they could peddle.  Some stayed, networking to help other newbies get resources.  The old timers lived in buildings they had thrown up, often with knowledge learned from the dwarves.  They weren¡¯t mansions, but they were comfortable shelter.


    Not everyone that came through was a gem waiting to be polished, granted.  That thought got me to thinking about how I was when I first arrived.  I had set up a network within the poor sector.  Being a successful hunter and pretty decent cook, if I had to say so myself, I would supply hearty meats or even cook up meals that would leave Aggie asking about how I got those flavors.  People courted my favor.  They wanted extra meat, wanted to learn things from me like how to hunt.  I used that.  I had favorites in the poor sector that I would ask to bring me information on any transients in the village that were possible target dupes and reward them.  We didn¡¯t get many visitors way out here but when we did I knew about them.  I would find these targets and attempt to pass off trinkets I had created with a bit of an item and some magic for a bit of coin.  The item would last through the day and could have some pretty fine detail.  If I managed to pass off a temporary trinket to one of these suckers I would make sure that the one told me about them got some preferential treatment.  In short I was a con artist.  I wasn¡¯t out to put anyone in the poor house.  I did not charge tremendously for my trinkets.  I guess it was my way of striking back at people that were part of the structure that caused my pain and the pain of the people around me.


    I remembered the day that had come to an end.  I had been cooking up a deer from my hunting, determined to create something incredible that the group would talk about for a good while.  A ladies voice called out to me ¡°Now that smells pretty amazing.¡±  Turning to respond my voice caught at my first sight of a woman that regarded me with a blank expression and the uniform of a guard.  I recognized her as one of the two elite guards for the mayor.  Concentrating a moment I could see two small grey spirits riding high on her forehead like horns.  She had powers and from her expression she was probably utilizing them.  Beside her was a lithe man I also recognized as the other elite guards.  Curiously I noted he had numerous wineskins slung over his shoulders.  Both were in their guard leathers though, with weapons at their belts.


    As the decision to run hit she spoke again.  ¡°Would be a shame to waste all that effort and food that these people need and would appreciate.¡±  That stopped me in my tracks.  I really did hate to abandon this meal and while the guard was at my door and felt I was worth using powers on, they hadn¡¯t been openly aggressive.  In fact their stances were relaxed, no weapon drawn.  I decided to play this out a bit, see where it went.  ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked, still determining whether flight was best or not.  She sat down.  The man beside her took her lead and sat down as well.  She said ¡°We brought some drink for everyone that will go well with your food.  In return we simply want you to come talk to the mayor.¡±  ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± I asked, returning my attention to the cooking.  ¡°You always have a choice.¡± She said.  ¡°I would personally appreciate it if you chose to come with us.¡±


    Ah, that was a really great meal.  I thought, belly grumbling at the memory of gastric bliss.  The wine they brought complimented it terrifically too.  It¡¯s a meal that they still talk about as a measure for good meals there.  For being poor, they get some pretty fantastic cooking.  Aggie and I took good care of our people, even teaching our cooking to those who had an interest.  Aggies not only a darn good cook, he¡¯s an incredible teacher.


    The resulting meeting with the mayor had seen me forgiven for an old crime, convicted of a new one, accepting a new job reporting the towns goings on using the methods I had in place to identify targets and keep alert.  I was cleared of the new crime by accepting said job.  It took me a few weeks to get over being caught so neatly.  I even thought a couple times of running, but I wasn¡¯t in a terrible spot.  Plus, when I got bitter enough to leave, Nikki had come offering to sweeten the deal, pulling me into the watch, something I didn¡¯t even know I wanted.


    I got training sessions with her and the other elite.  A place to stay, outside of the poor area.  I have to admit, it¡¯s gotten to feel like home, I thought, shaking my head in confusion as to why I was turned out of my apartment so abruptly.   I feel that in some ways I¡¯ve gotten soft, on these people, on the town.  At some point I stopped looking at the people around me as targets or possible accomplices, I thought wondering when that actually happened.  At the same time I had to admit my skills were honing even further.  My fighting skills, while pretty good, were never this good, which was due to having skilled fighters to spar with.


    Budor interrupted my thoughts.  ¡°Yer lookin a bit too elvish there.  Pensive folk, those elves.¡±  I grinned at him.  ¡°Yea.  They are at that.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m heading out to do some patrolling.¡±  Budor¡¯s expressions sobered.  ¡°Careful out there, son.  This ain¡¯t the first time this town ¡®as seen this kinda activity.  Got right bloody last time.  Left scars that linger on the town to this day.¡± Budor said, shaking his head, the firelight playing shadows strangely across his face.


    I had forgotten or rather overlooked that Budor had been a fixture in this town for as long as anyone knew.  ¡°Really?  Anything in that tale that would help me now?¡± I asked stepping toward the dwarf.  Budor stirred the pot glancing around to see if any were close enough to hear, seeing it was clear he continued. ¡°It were a predecessor of Evan Grishaw afore.  ¡®is namesake even.  Evan Grishaw walked the day a grim, sour man.  At night ¡®e worked ¡®is power o¡¯er the dead.  Bringing things back that were powerful, all the while hidin, yellin fer protection, the devious bastard!


    I know a bit about our Grim.  ¡®e¡¯s bitter, but ¡®e¡¯s got a right to be bitter.  I don¡¯t wish any worse on the kid.  ¡®es naught but a victim.  A victim of a past wrought by his past namesake.  Watch ¡®im though.  ¡®is ancestor ¡®ad everyone fooled until almost too late.¡±  ¡°I¡¯ve heard bits and snippets about this.¡± I said ¡°A dread that walked the night.  Ended in one of the Silversmith boys dyin saving the town, right?¡± I asked.  Budor gave me an odd glance, then nodded.  I continued ¡°Wasn¡¯t sure if it was a story to keep the kids in at night or if there were a grain of truth to it.¡±.  ¡°More¡¯n a grain¡± Budor grunted dourly, staring into the stew as he stirred it, though it looked like he was seeing something other than stew.

 Back to work!

    A figure raced out of the deepening darkness interrupting Budor¡¯s reverie with a shout ¡°He¡¯s got Harold!¡± skidding to a stop in front of the pot.  Shifting from foot to foot, his hands flapping at his sides he looked desperately from Budor to me and back.  What he said clicked and I cursed.  Budor glanced at me.  ¡°I¡¯ve got this¡± I told him, placing my hand on his shoulder as I walked around the huge pot Budor was stirring.  ¡°Where?¡± I asked.  The guy turned and ran.  I ran after, furious at Bran for being a bully and frustrated with myself for not intercepting him before he got in to harass people.


    Bran had the older guy by his shirt and was pushing him up against the wall.  ¡°I warned you!¡± he growled, drawing back his fist.  ¡°Bran!¡± I shouted.  Bran turned his face to me.  ¡°Where have you been?¡± Bran yelled at me.  ¡°I¡¯m working, and you¡¯ve been off playin with your bum friends.¡±  He turned back to Harold. ¡°Tell me where the new halfer is!¡± he growled at him raising his fist again.  ¡°Bran!  Stop.  The man¡¯s mute.  He can¡¯t tell you anything.  I know where the guy lives anyway.¡±   Bran looked at me suspiciously and looked at Harold.  Harold nodded spastically back at him.  Bran turned and pushed Harold away, grunting.  Harold stumbled away, pausing to glance his thanks to me before heading towards the food line, people and safety.  ¡°This one is not right.¡± Came the thought from my spirit. ¡°Beware this sickened animal¡± sending me images of animals frothing and tearing mindlessly at each other.  ¡°Yea, didn¡¯t really need a warning on this one.¡±  I thought back.


    I walked past Bran shaking my head.  ¡°Do you assault every mute you see or was this a treat to yourself for some prior good behavior?¡± I asked sarcastically ¡°How was I supposed to know the man was mute?¡± He snapped at me. ¡°He made a noise when I grabbed him!¡±  He looked away from me.  ¡°Probably fakin it anyway.¡± Bran grumbled.  My mouth opened, retort on the tip of my tongue.  My brain spun out how this would go, and my mouth snapped shut with a click.  As much as I would enjoy pounding Bran into the ground, we had larger issues right now.  This kind of exchange was the reason I didn¡¯t speak with Bran unless I had to.  I turned and walked away shaking my head.  I heard Bran fall in behind me.


    As we approached the shack I pointed at it for Bran.  He nodded, his hand going to his sword.  I motioned for him to wait and walked around the shack.  It was pretty basic.  No one went without shelter, Budor and his crew saw to that.   The newbies got shacks that were large enough for a bedding and a little moving room.  They were encouraged to improve on them as long as any structural improvement was supervised.  I understand that wasn¡¯t the rule at one time and some buildings came down around their squatters and people got hurt.  As people learned skills and moved on the newbies moved on to bigger and better buildings or stayed and invested time and effort in the shelter they were in.


    The building was wood, the protective coating on the wood was cracked and worn in places, but overall, the building looked decently kept.  The ground around the building was also undisturbed. I saw no spirits present around the building either.


    Completing the walk, I was relieved to see that Bran had stayed where I had left him.  He watched me intently as I waved him forward.  ¡°Seems normal so far.¡± I mentioned to Bran.  ¡°I¡¯ll knock on the door and request he steps out so we can investigate the interior.¡±  Bran nodded at me.  I really didn¡¯t expect to find anything, but Bran was not wrong that we should check out any newcomers under present circumstances.  It just rubbed me wrong that the main motivation for Bran to check this one out was because he was a ¡®halfer¡¯.


    I knocked on the worn, door.  After a moment of shuffling the door swung open.  Bran yelped and drew his sword.  I stepped back.  Not only from the visage of the half-elf greeting us, but the smell as well.  He was thin.  Wild, black, greasy hair framed a pale face, with sunken, red eyes.  A sharp, curved beak of a nose hung over a red lined gash in his face that served as his mouth.  He looked like he was clothed in a rumpled, stained sack.  A sickly smell rolled out of the place when he had opened the door.  I did not want to consider what different items made up that odor.  He blinked, peering at us.  I held my arm out to bar Bran in case he decided to try to end this guy, though honestly it looked like it might be a mercy.  ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked.  He shook his head, his soft, breathy voice reaching me ¡°Sorry, I must look a fright.  I haven¡¯t been well.  Budor has been bringing my meals around this time.  I was wondering why he would knock.¡±  He blinked slowly.  ¡°O. Uh.  What can I do for you?¡±  I looked at Bran who looked at me, sword still in hand.  ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you go ahead and lay back down?  We need to step in and take a look around.¡±  ¡°Uh.  Ok.¡± He responded, turning to slowly and painfully shuffle back to his bed.  As I stepped in, I turned again to Bran.  He stepped to the doorway and recoiled.  He stepped back and sheathed his sword.  It was obvious he would not come in any further which was probably for the best.  The place was pretty small.  He had a small bookcase which was a bit unusual.  I glanced at the books, some hunting and fishing guides, one of the beginner cookbooks Budor loans out and a book on taxidermy.  The small table held a candle which was not lit, a two tined fork, a thin bladed skinning knife and a small, thin nosed set of pliers.  There were hooks on the walls, a couple buckets and a dresser that contained a few ratty sets of clothes.  This guy was definitely down on his luck. ¡°You learning a trade?¡±  I queried, glancing down at Penton who huddled, shaking on a mattress, probably supplied by Budor, on his cot.  ¡°Trying.¡±  Came the breathy response.  After a couple cringingly juicy, rattling coughs he added ¡°Looking at hunting, fishing or taxidermy.  Hoped I could do a combination.¡±  I could half see movement above his bed.  Focusing my senses I could see a couple spirits that circled like vultures.  I¡¯d seen this before.  It didn¡¯t necessarily mean he was on his way out, but it wasn¡¯t a good sign.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I didn¡¯t really see anything of interest here.  The sound of someone approaching from outside got my attention.  I turned to look at the door, still blocked by Bran who glanced at me as he noted the approaching sound.  He turned, then stepped out of the doorway as Budor came into view carrying a bowl.  He nodded, glaring at Bran as he passed.  A wasted gesture as it was getting dark enough that Bran probably couldn¡¯t see him very well, and honestly Bran wouldn¡¯t care even if he could see his expression.  Budor looked to me and nodded.  ¡°Evenin Baz.  Wuz jus bringing Penton ¡®ere ¡®is dinner.  ¡®e¡¯s had a rough time o¡¯ it recently.¡±  I nodded.  ¡°I see.¡±  Turning to Penton I added ¡°Thank you for your time and patience.  We¡¯ll get out of your hair and let you enjoy your dinner.¡±


    We weren¡¯t four steps away when Bran started in.  ¡°Why aren¡¯t we taking him in?¡± He demanded, stepping forward to block me and turning to face me.  ¡°What grounds do we have to take him in?¡±  I asked looking at him curiously. Bran glared at me ¡°The man had a book on taxidermy.  Besides he looks like a necromancer!¡± Bran said.  I felt my eyebrow shoot up on its own, incredulous.  ¡°Really?  A book on taxidermy?  Taxidermists are necromancers?¡± I demanded.  Bran glanced off to the side a little uncomfortably.  I lowered my voice, knowing how words travel through walls here ¡°And how do you know what a Necromancer looks like?  The man looks like death warmed over because he¡¯s really ill.  He can barely move.  He may very well be dying.  Do you plan on carrying him so he can die in a prison cell on suspicion of trying to learn taxidermy?¡± A small shudder ran through Bran as he contemplated having to touch Penton.  ¡°No.  You should carry him, halfer!¡± he spat venomously ¡°I know it¡¯s him.  He¡¯s using taxidermy to get body supplies brought to him.  You go get him.¡± He demanded and added ¡°Now!¡±.


    My eyes narrowed as anger surged through me.  ¡°This one is not right.¡± The thought came to me. The spirit hovered near Bran like some small green cloud.  ¡°Ya think?¡± I thought back incredulously.  ¡°Let me get this straight.¡± I angrily whispered to Bran.  ¡°YOU want a sick, possibly dying man thrown in prison because YOU hate the poor and YOU equate taxidermy with necromancy, YOU think this will make you some kind of hero, but YOU don¡¯t even have the guts to do it yourself?¡±  While I said that the spirits voice cut across my mind again contemplatively ¡°It is sick.  It is a threat, but we should not end it yet.¡±  The spirit was obviously talking about Bran in its own way and in this moment, I really hoped he would give me an excuse to do just that.  Bran¡¯s face went hard as he stepped back into a defensive position, his hand heading to the pommel of his sword when a horn rang out nearby, followed by a fainter horn call in the distance, the opposite direction.

 Abduction!

    Brans eyes lingered a moment, jaw tensing ¡°This isn¡¯t over, halfer¡± he growled before turning to run toward the sound of the closer horn as it called again.  Shaking my head I followed, raising my horn and giving an answering call while hearing several other answering horns calling out in the night.  Angrily I followed Bran noting that the spirit had decided on green as it followed me.


    Pretty soon I saw Drummer ahead.  He jogged forward a bit then slowed, bringing his horn up, a cry for help erupting from his horn.  He saw Bran and I approaching, panting he pointed the direction he was running and croaked ¡°Dancer¡¯s chasing it.¡± The lanky man shook his head ¡°I couldn¡¯t keep up.¡± He gasped, gulping air, the handles of the twin clubs that earned him his nickname sheathed one at each hip their tips weaving back and forth as the weapons swung.


    Following Sticks¡¯ glance Bran glanced back at me and took off the direction pointed.  I paused a moment, increasing my breathing for show reflexively.  ¡°You good?¡± I asked.  He nodded and choked out ¡°Go!  Save Dancer!¡± a few steps in the way he pointed, and the thought hit me that he said ¡®save¡¯.¡±  What was ¡®it¡¯ that made him sure someone with Dancers fighting skills would not survive.  This can¡¯t be good I thought, noting that the spirit had turned back to its normal purple again.  Well, that was short lived I thought as I ran.


    We were racing through the poor quarters meandering streets, but I knew we would be hitting the outskirts.  Soon we would be out of the buildings and on the slope of the mountain.


    Bran passed the last of the buildings and drew his sword, a longer blade than the two I carried. He stepped behind the building he was next to, disappearing from view.  I turned the corner.  Ahead of us a monstrosity twisted and turned, trying to get a hit in on Dancer who slid under its arms, around its side and sometimes between its legs, knives flashing scoring cut after ineffective cut on an absolute behemoth.  ¡°That thing should not exist!¡± My spirit raged and I couldn¡¯t agree more.  ¡°Destroy it!¡± Came the spirit''s imperious command.  Easier said than done, I thought looking the beast over.


    The thing had to stand 10 foot tall even with its torso hunched over.  Corded muscle stood out over all of its body with no skin covering it.  May¡¯s body slumped over its shoulder flopping about loosely as it dodged and swung at the ever-elusive Dancer.  I glanced to my side at Bran who had only advanced a few steps and stood staring at the beast incredulously.  Drawing my weapons I started towards the beast as Dancer slid between its legs again. A translucent spike of spirit that I knew from experience only I could see shot down pinning Dancer to the ground by his shoulder stopping his momentum cold and making him grunt as though punched in the gut.  It nimbly drew its foot over him and using the spike and its raised foot, kicked Dancer right at me.


    My gut instinct was to slide under him and attack the creature.  Dancers'' trajectory was about three or four foot above the ground giving me plenty of clearance.  I also knew the ground behind me was rocky and there was even a good likelihood that he would make it all the way to the buildings and my guess was that building corners and even their sides did not make for a comfortable landing.  I was actually concerned he wouldn¡¯t survive such a landing.  A sense of focus and quiet enveloped me as it did on a good day when I wholly focused on my fighting.  I knew I have always been able to push my muscles well beyond expectations and hoped it would be enough as I braced for impact and willed myself to take the shock, slow his movement and lower him to the ground safely.  ¡°Let it die, end the abomination, then release the nuisance as well!¡±  The spirit demanded.  Ignoring it I continued to focus as Dancers body impacted my outstretched hands, arms slid back as I pushed, letting my arms absorb the shock as I leaned into the impact.  Once he hit my chest I slid back, my shoes scraping lines in the ground as I slid backwards a bit before losing its momentum where I let his body roll down my torso to the ground.  He did not appear to be conscious, but he was not dead.  Bran raced up the hill toward the creature screaming, but it had turned and raced off at an incredible speed on three of its limbs like an animal while it used its last limb to secure May over its shoulder.  ¡°You let it get away!¡± the spirit raged.  I glanced at it almost expected little lightning bolts in it, but it was just its normal deep purple color.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Bran and I chased the beast across the mountainside as May¡¯s torso and face slapping against the creature¡¯s back as it ran.  It was gaining ground steadily and I could tell Bran was flagging as the creature crested hill and disappeared behind it.  After that we lost sight of the beast.  We finally crested the hill that the creature disappeared behind. It dipped steeply.  At the bottom stood three trolls.  Two were looking in the direction the creature must¡¯ve gone but the third was looking straight at us and called to the other two. I¡¯d never seen a troll before.  They were lanky and long limbed.  They were large, looking like they¡¯d be at least seven or eight foot tall if they stood. Their craggy, crust-like skin was mottled greys and browns. The largest of them licked its lips and straightened up to what was probably closer to nine foot tall, its large, pointed ears standing out as it faced me and licked its lips.


    ¡°Behind you!¡± was the quick warning I got from the spirit and still I was almost tossed down the slope as Bran tried to push me and ran back the way we came.  ¡°Strike the coward down!¡± my spirit yelled. One of the other trolls slapped at the standing one with the sound of rocks hitting which got my attention.  Then it made a sound that if I¡¯d heard it from a human, I would assume they were choking but must¡¯ve passed for speech for them.  The larger one swatted back at the smaller, crouched one as it turned to me and said in a grating, harsh voice.  ¡°Leave flesh thing or be food.¡±  Well, that was direct, and I suppose for them, rather kind.  I glanced beyond them and saw no trace of the creature we chased.


    I nodded to the troll who gave me the warning and backed away from them until the hilltop obscured my view of them.  Turning, I ran downhill toward the woods and circled the area where the group of trolls were running past them to where the creature had to have gone.  I caught signs of it here and there of its passing but lost the trail.  After hours of searching, I found nothing.


    Angry and frustrated I headed back to the village going back through the spot I had left Dancer.  I figured someone would¡¯ve gotten him by now and wasn¡¯t wrong, still if I hadn¡¯t checked I would¡¯ve worried later. ¡°Life is resilient and look out for itself.¡±  Came the thought.  I knew from the feel of it that it was in a green mood.  Odd, I figured it would take longer than that to stop being angry with me.  Though the thought of sleep was seductive I headed to the mayors first.  Even if no one was up he or one of his elite guards would want to know what happened.

 Aftermath

    Rounding the last building the mayors house came into view.  I guess I didn¡¯t have to worry about no one being awake.  Every window in the building showed light and I could see people in there.  Shaking my head I climbed the stairs.  There was no way at this late hour that this would be good news.


    The room was full of every watch person, Nikki, one of the Elite Guards stood by the mayor.  The other Elite Guard, Frank was off to the side of the room kneeling by Dancer who was sitting, now conscious.  Frank had one hand on Dancer''s shoulder and one on Sticks.  Mayor Skandro stopped what he was saying when I had opened the door and watched as I entered.  ¡°Ah.  Baz.¡± He said simply.  Several of the watch were covered in soot marks and the room smelled of bitter, acrid smoke.  Occasionally someone would cough.  Bran started at my name, turning wild eyes on me before turning back, visibly shaken that I was here. I shot him a dark look, but he had already turned back around.  Anger simmered but I resisted the urge to attack him and instead I walked down the line towed Frank.


    As I headed over to Frank Skandro picked back up talking about a fire over at one of the farms.  Frank¡¯s special ability allowed him to share hurt, wounds and even illness across a person or people making it easier and quicker to recover, pulling people back from life threatening situations.  I could already see Sticks shoulder bleeding as a portion of the damage was transferred.  ¡°Elite¡± I nodded a greeting to Frank who nodded back.  ¡°I will take a share of the wound.¡± I said.  Frank nodded again.  ¡°I have faster healing and a high pain tolerance due to my heritage¡± I stated.  It was an easy pass that allowed me to cover for some of the minor abilities my mother drilled into me to keep secret.


    Franks hand dropped from both.  Sticks glanced at me ¡°Thanks.¡± He said.  I knew he was more grateful that I was helping Dancer than taking some of pain that would likely have been his.  He had never shrunk from pain. I smiled at him and allowed Franks magic to work on me when I felt his touch.  I saw that his hand was now on Dancers right ribs and immediately felt a dull, growing ache around a couple ribs.  That kick he took probably cracked some ribs.  As taught from as early as I could remember and probably beyond, I insulated myself from the pain using my anger at Bran and let no pain show.


    Displaying pain was considered a weakness to my mother¡¯s people and she raised me in her people¡¯s way.  It was all she knew.  I found that being unusual looking made me a negative focus. Much like my mother¡¯s people, any display of weakness was noted and acted on by those that felt threatened because I looked different than they did.  I found those lessons were useful even outside of her people¡¯s caves.


    ¡°Anger slows healing¡± came to me from my spirit.  I wondered at that.  First what would a spirit know about living creatures and healing but second¡­  It almost sounded reasonable and got me wondering.  Anger prepped for fighting and while it dulled pain, was your body focused on healing that pain or was it focused on making muscles work and heighten senses?  For all I knew it could do both with no problem.


    ¡°Don¡¯t strain yourself there, deep thinker.¡± Came the familiarly bitter thoughts and I could tell it had gotten frustrated with me again.  I sighed and shook my head at its return to negativity.  Frank made a quizzical noise bringing my attention to him.  His face plainly asked the question if he should continue.  He had noted the shrug and shake and thought I wanted him to stop.  I nodded to him to continue as Skandro¡¯s voice continued filled the room.


    I focused on what the mayor was stating. ¡°When we are done here, please take a look at these¡­ unusual spears we found at the farm.¡± He said gesturing at a pile of large, charred spears laying on the floor next to him. ¡°They weren¡¯t at the farm earlier and may be connected to the fire.  If we can find out who made them perhaps, we can figure out who put them there.¡±  He continued to talk about the fires and new routes we were assigned while Frank finished drawing off health to help Dancer heal up.


    ¡°So as a recap.¡±  The mayor said as he wrapped up ¡°Let¡¯s find out where these spears came from.  Keep an eye out for anything unusual in our village and I repeat do NOT engage anything alone.  Our goal is to run them to ground, corner them and take them in a safe fight where we have the advantage.  Lastly dig into the rumors!¡± He said, pounding his fist on his little podium for emphasis. ¡°We need to find out who killed Garen.  We need to send a message that turning lethal force on one another is entirely unacceptable!  The people of this village need to see that we have control.  That they don¡¯t need to go armed on their own streets for fear of being attacked or worse in anticipation of an attack.  Garen is an example that a word and a few moments was all it took to needlessly end a life.  As tensions rise it will become worse.  Be careful out there.  Let them know you and your team are in control.  Let¡¯s wrap this up so everyone can get home or get back out there on patrol.


    Has anyone seen anything else suspicious that needs reporting?¡± The mayor asked.  Bran cleared his throat to get attention ¡°The halfer in the poor pit is suspicious.  I think he is using the excuse of learning taxidermy to get people to bring him body parts for his creations.  He¡¯s acting ill to keep suspicion off him.  The rest of them seem to be covering for him too, could be more than one person over there is involved.¡±  ¡°Thank you for bringing that up.¡± Mayor Skandro responded, ¡°I will remind you that you are not to refer to the poor quarter as a ¡®pit¡¯, Bran.  We have also talked about your racial slurs.  You will have some penalty work to make up for that.  We do have a farm that needs cleaned up.  Report to me first thing in the morning.¡±  Bran¡¯s shoulders sagged at that.  ¡°I will have Baz follow up on the poor sector in your stead.¡± Said Skandro.


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    ¡°Baz is part of them!¡± Bran blurted out ¡°He refused to look further into it when I brought it up and when trolls tried to kill me earlier Baz stayed and spoke with them, probably coordinating another attack!¡±  ¡°Ah.¡±  The mayor said, nodding at Bran.  ¡°Baz.  I will need you to stay behind with me and Nikki to work through this.¡±  I nodded at the mayor.  I mean, I came here to report what I had seen anyway, so this was no change to my plans.  ¡°Anything else?¡± The mayor asked.


    ¡°At first light will we get a group out to search for May?¡± I asked.  ¡°She may still be alive.¡±  The spirits thoughts rolled through my head ¡°If she¡¯s lucky she¡¯ll get release.  Your failure to catch them may have not only caused her release from life¡¯s torment but torture of her true essence as well.¡±  The mayor scratched at his ear a moment before answering. ¡°No.  As much as I hate to let the necromancer get away with this atrocity, I can¡¯t leave the town with weakened defenses which might play into their hands while our forces are out chasing cold leads.¡±  There was a pause while he considered it a bit more and then added. ¡°No.  Stick with the assigned patrols.  Defend our people.  Make sure no one else is taken.¡±  He scratched at the back of his neck and sighed, shaking his head.  In tired tones he added ¡°Everyone go.  Keep your eyes open, protect Silveren.  Baz. Come on.¡±  He motioned to me as he turned to go in the back door.  Everyone else turned to walk past me to leave.  Bran held a moment, then as people cleared turned and strode towards me his face tight with anger.  I braced myself, relaxing my muscles, focusing on his movements, essentially entering the upcoming fight mentally, so there would be no surprise, no lack of readiness.  He stopped before me, hand resting loosely on the pommel of his sword. ¡°I..¡±  He started snapping his mouth shut, eyes darting back and forth, finally resting on the ground in front of me. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to push you into the trolls.¡± He spit out quickly and turned, bustling past me.  ¡°That was wrong.¡± He mumbled and started to walk away.  ¡°I shoulda known you were allied with them, though traitor!¡± he called over his shoulder as he left.


    I shook my head, not quite believing what had just happened.  Not knowing what to do with it, I pushed it out of my thoughts and turned to see Nikki holding the door to the back for me.  I hurried forward so she wouldn¡¯t have to keep holding the door.


    The mayor listened to me relate what had happened over the night occasionally looking to Nikki who verified my story with a nod.  When it was done, he affirmed my decision to help Dancer before going after the beast, though I still wasn¡¯t certain it was the right choice now.  Then he surprised me with a question.  ¡°What Bran did was attempted murder.¡±  He said, studying my face. ¡°I¡¯m curious, before I go further with this what do you think should be done?¡±  My eyebrows went up and I took a deep breath in as I considered this.  Bran really pissed me off.  His values were hateful, and I would love to see him suffer for them, honestly.  The spirit sent a stream of very creative images about its thought of what should be done with Bran.  I had to work to not wince at some of them.  It was apparently very creative in a grisly kind of way.


    ¡°Phew!¡±  sounded as I let the breath, I didn¡¯t realize I was holding out. ¡°Bran works well, or at least decently with the others of the watch.  Normally I would say he shouldn¡¯t get away with something like this, and perhaps later we can deal with it but now¡­¡± I trailed off a second before continuing ¡°Now we are in a bad position and punishing Bran does not put us in a better one.  Worse, it could erode confidence the public has in the watch and even the confidence inside the watch. I think we need every person we have out there.  As long as he¡¯s not paired with me, I think he will do fine, but if it were me calling the shots, I wouldn¡¯t remove a game piece from the board if I could help it with everything going on.¡±  Skandro nodded at me, steepling his fingers as he thought.  After a moment he said ¡°Thank you.  Go and get some rest.  Recover the health you gave to help Dancer recover and we will talk tomorrow.¡±  Nodding I got up and stepped back through the door into the room all the watch had just been in.


    To the right was the pile of spears that Skandro had noted.  I knelt down and looked them over.  The haft was thicker than a normal spear and the material¡­  I touched it and felt the grit and solidity.  Tinking my nail off it confirmed it.  These were made of a rough metal.  Grabbing it I could lift it but I could tell others my size would not be able to lift it. Heck even Ocran wouldn¡¯t be able to throw this weapon all that far.  There was a lip on the haft near the head that seemed odd for a thrown weapon.  Under that there were strips on both sides of the weapon leading down on each side of the weapon that aligned with the unusual looking doubled edge of the blade.  Scratching along the roughed edge, I found it was gritty and some of the grit came free with me just rolling my finger over it.  The blade looked like two huge arrow heads pressed tightly together until there was only a narrow channel left.  I checked over each of them and found a couple odd items.  Each cleft at the edge of the blade had tightly packed ash in it and one of them had a glass ring just above the blade.  The top edge of the ring was jagged, as though there was more glass above it but it had been shattered.  I sighed and shook my head.  Very strange weapon.  I left, heading to bed as soon as I got back to my new home.

 Morning with Budor

    I woke in the dark, my surroundings strange. After a moment recollection flooded back that this was my new home. At least for now. I dressed and headed out to meet the new day.  Leaving my bedroom I headed out to find Budor hanging out in the common area.  As I headed toward the door he set a large mug of coffee down at the table and motioned to me that it was mine.  I really didn¡¯t expect any kind of service here, I mean it was nice enough that they let me stay here. I wasn¡¯t going to say no to the smell coming off that cup though, so I pulled up a seat as Budor set his own mug down and sat.  Budor sat quietly, enjoying his coffee.  Seemed he was letting me get myself together, waiting for me to signal that I was open for business.  Sipping the coffee I was amazed.  Why can¡¯t I make coffee that tastes like this?  Spirits!  The flavor was so thick I felt like I should be able to chew on it, but there was no bitterness.  None.  Not even a hint.  I looked at Budor.  ¡°Wow.  This is good stuff.¡±  He smiled at me.  ¡°Yea, Aggie makes tha bes¡¯ coffee.¡± he said a bit wistfully.  I spent a few moments luxuriating in the coffee.


    I looked over at Budor.  ¡°There¡¯s something up in that mountain that stole May away from us.¡± Budor leaned forward.  ¡°I ¡®erd ¡®ere was some sor¡¯ o ruckus las¡¯ night.¡± He said.  I went through what happened.  As I mentioned the beasts escape he sat stroking his beard and shaking his head.


    ¡°Awe May!¡±  Budor said sadly ¡°Firs¡¯ Rithle an now May.¡±  ¡°Wait, Rithle?  May was asking about him this morning.¡±  Budor nodded.  ¡°Yea, ¡®is place still ¡®as ¡®is stuff in it.  ¡®e jus¡¯ disappeared one day.  Skandro dismissed it, sayin ¡®e¡¯d gone home, or run off, which were a possibili¡¯y¡­ I fear ¡®e were grabbed afore poor May now.¡±  He said taking a sip of coffee.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessin¡¯ ya want ole Budor to go check with the Mountain Lord to help save May.¡±  I blinked startled that I hadn¡¯t thought of that. ¡°That sounds obvious now¡± I said ¡°but honestly I didn¡¯t think of it, Budor.  If I had, I would¡¯ve gotten you up when I got back.  I guess I just don¡¯t think of them as beings you can just talk with.¡±  I got out of my chair excited at the possibility of meeting a greater spirit.  ¡°Can I come?¡± I said.


    ¡°Hold on.  Truth be told, lad¡± he started ¡°tha Mountain Lord drew his spirit away from us back after tha last necromancer.¡± He said setting his cup down and staring into it sadly.  ¡°Think ¡®e blames us.  ¡®is dwarves were ¡®ere.  We should¡¯na le¡¯ ¡®is adopted son die.¡±  He shook his head, sending ripples down his beard. ¡°Nuthin to be done now.  We spent a long time thinking through all tha¡¯ could¡¯ave been done. I don¡¯ think ¡®e¡¯ll talk to us.  Bu¡¯ perhaps if we get to tha trolls they¡¯ll check for us.¡±  He said.  I thought about my run in with trolls.  ¡°Are you sure?  The ones I met didn¡¯t seem all that hospitable.¡± I pointed out.


    Budor smiled and started packing for a trip.  ¡°When the Moun¡¯ain Lord treated with the ¡®uman¡¯s ¡®e thought about sending ¡®em ¡®is best miners.¡±  I nodded, wondering about the direction this was heading. ¡°The kobolds.¡±  Budor said ¡°Those buggers can smell ore ¡®n gems through a coupla yer body lengths worth o dirt n rock and dig to it in moments with the claws they¡¯ve got.¡± Budor said with a wistful expression, flexing a hand as though it had claws.  There was no doubt about it.  Budor seriously admired kobolds.  ¡°But he di¡¯nt wanna part with any o the li¡¯l bligh¡¯ers.  ¡®e were also concerned ¡®umans would ¡®ave trouble workin wit sum¡¯in with a face like a stretched rat, n razor sharp claws tha¡¯ could easily kill ¡®im and so ¡®e thought maybe trolls.  They kinda look like ¡®em ¡®e thought.  Indiscriminate ea¡¯ers, those buggers though.  An¡¯ tha introduction went vera poorly.  So ¡®e made a cri¡¯er wit tha endurance an strength o tha troll and the minin sense o¡¯ tha kobold.  Then made it look like a man, but seein ¡®ow men were easily scared, ¡®e made em shorter, n smaller than men.¡±  He said as we headed through the door.  I stepped into the light and blinked.  ¡°Dwarves.¡± I stated, more to myself than anything.  ¡°A¡¯s righ¡¯.¡± Budor said.  ¡°So your people are his youngest children?¡± I asked feeling a kind of wonder at kind of seeing, even second hand, the birth of a race.  Budor stopped, turned and looked at me, head cocked.  After a moment he nodded.  ¡°Yea.  I guess tha¡¯s wha¡¯ Aggie, me n Grundle are. Hm.¡± He concluded and turning left me stunned a moment before I chased after him.  ¡°Wait!  You mean there are only three dwarves?¡±  He shrugged.  ¡°Mayhaps?  I dunno.  Maybe ¡®nother mountain¡¯s lord made others like us.  All I know, we wuz crea¡¯ed and left wit the ¡®umans.¡±  I shook my head, confused ¡°But¡­  I¡¯ve heard of dwarves before!¡±  I said.  ¡°There have to be more of you.¡±  ¡°Nay lad. ¡®umans call shor¡¯ ¡®umans dwarves.  At¡¯s likely wha¡¯ you ¡®eard, an if I don¡¯ miss me guess, its no¡¯ a name given ou¡¯ o¡¯ kindness.¡±  I was staggered.  I didn¡¯t know whether to focus on that there were only three of them in existence or that their creator made them and left them and or if any of this actually meant anything really to Budor and his kin.


    Then a thought hit me.  What does this have to do with anything?  ¡°Why did you tell me this?¡± I asked as we trudged up the path outside of the town, the same way I followed the creature carrying May earlier.  Budor squinted at me as though I were slow. ¡°Cuz boy, I¡¯m basically a troll-kobold an from the same paren¡¯ ta boot.  Tha trolls will talk ta me.¡±  ¡°Ah.¡± Was all I could think of to reply.


    ¡°Here¡¯s where I saw them.¡± I said, pointing down to the bottom of the ravine. Budor nodded and headed down the slope, walking as though it were flat terrain.  And I had thought I was impressive doing controlled slides down the slope.  As he hit the bottom he glanced at the ground and headed up the ravine toward the mountain.  ¡°Trolls are fairly lazy.¡± Budor said as he stalked past me scanning the ground and sides of the ravine.  ¡°There should be an entrance fairly close.¡±   He added as he homed in on a large rock in the side of the ravine.  The boulder grated and slid in.  ¡°Not lazy, cousin.  We do what¡¯s needful to get a thing done.  Not more.¡±  A voice grated as the troll pulled the massive stone to one side while staring at me.  Further in the cavern a craggy stone turned and unfolded into the larger troll from earlier.  It turned emitting grating noises and shambled quickly our direction.  ¡°Let me greet my kin.  Only step in if limbs start becoming separated.¡±  He said.  I blinked wondering if he seriously expected me to save him from a group of trolls but before I could say anything he took several steps forward.  The troll that opened the door squatted to the side of the door apparently deciding to wait out this greeting as well.


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    The larger troll towered over Budor nearly double his height.  Both were making grating noises at one another and as it continued their movements became agitated.  I guessed this wasn¡¯t going well.  The troll sitting near me made an odd chuffing noise and shook its head.  About the same time the larger troll raised both arms, clasped hands and brought both arms down on Budor. Budor raised an arm to block as the trolls arm came whistling down but his body posture was calm rather than tensed for battle.  The arms collided with the sound of a rockslide.  At impact Budor¡¯s knees bent and his raise hand struck like a snake, grabbing the troll at the elbow.  He pulled the troll down, straightening his legs as he drove his other fist into the trolls face as he pulled it down to him.  The impact knocked the troll on its butt.


    Budor and the trolls made some more grating sounds, then Budor bowed to them and started backing toward me.  I took the hint and backed out of the entrance.  Budor and I cleared the entrance.  The sound of the massive stone grating back into place faded behind us as we walked down the ravine a bit in silence.  Turning Budor walked up the ravine side just as easily as he walked down it.  I glanced around out of habit prior to pulling what my mom called ¡°a stupid stunt¡± and willing my hands and feet to not loose grip I clambered up the ravine edge, grabbing the edge and pulling myself over once I got to the lip. Budor stood there looking at me curiously.  ¡°Kinda steep¡± I said.


    ¡°Anyway, it seems like that could¡¯ve gone better.¡±  I said dusting myself off.  Budor¡¯s beard rippled in what I knew to be a smile.  ¡°Nah.  That was probably the best it could¡¯ve gone.¡±  His face went thoughtful. ¡°Kinda¡± he added.  ¡°The trolls wanted to know why the Mountain Lord would hear my voice.  Then agreed to take my message and even keep an eye out for May if he was unable to kick me out of his cave.¡±  He glanced at me and chuckled. ¡°He really wants to eat you.  Says he told you he would eat you already and if he threw me out he would eat you.¡±  I glanced a bit alarmed at Budor.  I had no idea what was at stake in that encounter.


    He turned and started walking toward town his hand up as he rolled something that glittered and clicked in his palm.  ¡°Glad you beat him easily enough, then.¡±  I said with a nervous laugh.  ¡°Yah.¡± Budor said nodding ¡°I¡¯d¡¯ve felt bad if ya ¡®ad to kill a troll.¡±  Budor said.  ¡°¡¯Ere I got two.¡± He added plucking something from his hand and handing it to me.  I took it looking over a good sized, sharp clear gemstone.  ¡°Troll teeth!¡± he said with a laugh, tossing his into the air and catching it.  ¡°These ¡®ere are one of the reasons that trolls can eat almost anything.  Chew through rocks, bite into ore, whatever.  Then they digest the minerals and what they need and pass mostly purified ores and gemstones.¡±  At my look which was clearly asking if he was pulling my leg he shrugged adding. ¡°At¡¯s the purpose the Mountain Lord gave em.  Well that an figh¡¯in fleshies.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, I¡¯m glad you made it a short fight.¡± I said worried that had it gone longer the greater mass of the troll would¡¯ve worked against the Dwarf.  Budor shrugged.  ¡°Tha Mountain Lord were worried ¡®is trolls might try to go after the ¡®umans.  While they are buil¡¯ ta figh¡¯ fleshy critters.  We¡¯re buil¡¯ ta defend ¡®umans from trolls.  It really weren¡¯ a competition.  Tha troll were jus¡¯ curious if it were true, is all.¡± ¡°Ah¡± I answered my mind struggling with all of the things thrown at it recently and something Budor said came back to me.


    ¡°Wait, you said that the trolls were built to fight humans.  Did he change his mind?¡±  Budor cocked his head at me regarding me a moment, then he shook his head.  ¡°I never sai¡¯ ¡®e made trolls to figh¡¯ ¡®humans.¡±  He replied shaking his head.  ¡°But you said he created them to fight fleshies, right?¡±  Budor¡¯s face lit up in understanding.  ¡°Ah!  Yea.¡±  He scratched his chin as we trundled on. ¡°I see why you though¡¯ tha¡¯.  Well, ya are a fleshie, at¡¯s true. Hm.  Well, let¡¯s talk about spirits a momen¡¯.  Essentially they are aligned wit tha Libererator or the Enslaver.  Tha Enslaver is a grea¡¯er spirit tha¡¯ decided to infuse things wit spiri¡¯.  Bendin¡¯ em to their sick en¡¯ertainmen¡¯.  The Libera¡¯or found ou¡¯ too late ta stop it. Ta protec¡¯ tha spirits from all being sucked inta this ¡®orrible experimen¡¯ ¡®e imposed a limi¡¯.  These things woul¡¯ no¡¯ live forever even¡¯ually sucking all spiri¡¯s ou¡¯ o tha worl¡¯.  They woul¡¯ eventually release their cap¡¯ured spiri¡¯.¡±  He glanced at me to see if I was following.


    I shrugged.  ¡°Ok. Though that sounds a lot like what my mother¡¯s people believe¡± I said. Budor nodded enthusiastically.  ¡°Yer mum¡¯s people ¡®ave aligned wit tha Liberator. And no offence but fleshies are tha Enslavers creation.  Tha Moun¡¯ain Lor¡¯ is a spiri¡¯ o the Libera¡¯ors lineage.  Tha Forest lor¡¯ is o¡¯ the Enslaver¡¯s lineage.¡±  He glanced at me again.


    ¡°So the Mountain Lord and the Forest Lord fought?¡±  Budor nodded.  ¡°We were ne¡¯er par¡¯ o¡¯ it bu¡¯ I know tha ¡®istory.  We dwarves ¡®ave a room o¡¯ weapons as par¡¯ o the temporary peace.  Crai ¡®as a cache somewhere as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked genuinely surprised and before he could answer I thought of something.  ¡°Hey!  Would any of those weapons look like a thick shafted rough metal spear where the spear head has a double blade?¡±  I asked wondering if I was probably grasping at straws.


    Budor glanced at me ¡°Well a spear is a good weapon against fleshies.¡± He said shrugging. ¡°Why d¡¯ya ask?¡± I looked at Budor and said ¡°We found three spears at the farm.  They each had a large lip a few hands widths above the head.  One of them had a glass ring on it just above the head.¡±  ¡°I need ta see those spears!  Where are they?¡± Budor demanded excitedly.  ¡°They¡¯re at the mayors.¡± I said.


    He started gesturing agitated and excitedly he added ¡°Tha¡¯ soun¡¯s like troll fire spears.  There¡¯s a glass capsule tha res¡¯s agains¡¯ tha lip buil¡¯ ta be tigh¡¯ on tha shaf¡¯.  When tha spear strikes it¡¯s targe¡¯ tha capsule slides down tha shaft striking two striker pads afore tha glass stikes tha spear head an sha¡¯ers.  Tha strike pads ligh¡¯ sparkler fuses which ligh¡¯ the liquid tha¡¯ is released when tha capsule sha¡¯ers.¡±  He shook his head, beard dancing and huffed.


    ¡°You think the Mountain Lord could be against us?¡± I asked.  Budor shrugged. ¡°Doesn¡¯ make sense.  ¡®e woulda jus¡¯ dropped an avalanche on tha village¡­¡± He trailed off his voice uncertain. His voice gained some certainty ¡°An tha trolls¡¯ they¡¯da sai¡¯ somethin.  They defini¡¯ly wouldna agreed to ask tha Mountain Lord a ques¡¯ion on our behalf.¡±  He said triumphantly which worried me because it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.


    Well, this was worrying.  Spirits, especially greater spirits could be capricious.  Suddenly my mind called up how nearly all of the Mountain Lords alters in the village were overgrown and neglected.  I sighed, worried.  ¡°So, would the Mountain Lord resort to necromancy to plague people he wanted to leave?¡±  Budor shook his head vehemently.  ¡°No!  Necromancy is a foul act of tying a spiri¡¯ ta something tha used ta be a fleshie.  It¡¯s disgus¡¯in an cruel to tha spirit.  No spirit would do that to ¡®nother¡±


    As we got closer to the village Budor said ¡°I¡¯m gonna hea¡¯ over to tha mayor¡¯s place and ge¡¯ a look a¡¯ those spears.¡± I nodded ¡°I should probably get some patrolling in, keep an eye out for that creature.¡±  Budor nodded and waved over his shoulder as I turned off.

 Mowris

    I headed into the poor sector absorbed in my concern over the possibility that the Mountain Lord could have anything to do with things.  I was resolving to restore his shrines to their former glory when a voice rang out beside me and I started.  ¡°Hey boss!¡±  I glanced over ad my red headed human friend.  ¡°Hey Jimmy.¡±  ¡°You must really have something on your mind.¡± He observed.  ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever gotten that close to you without you knowing.¡± His grin was feral and would¡¯ve been scary had I not known him. Jimmy had been one of my friends since I got here.  He stood beside me when I ran my ring, scouting out targets to sell my stone ¡®carvings¡¯ to.  He helped keep the informants going and was really good at it.


    And when I moved away from that practice he still stood by me, and more annoyingly continued calling me ¡®boss¡¯ no matter how many times I told him not to.  I had a sneaking suspicion that my resistance to it made it more entertaining to him.  Jimmy could have a bit of a mean streak at times.


    ¡°Saw ya with Mowris the other day.  I keep tell you that girl is bad news.¡± He started. ¡°Maybe you listened to me after all.¡± He turned to face me.  ¡°She was right there beside you but you weren¡¯t paying her any mind.  Like you were looking at something else.¡±  His eyes searched my face, trying to confirm that I had listened to him. I rolled my eyes and grinned. ¡°Pah.  Like I told you before, she¡¯s her own person.  Yea, she¡¯s partnered with Ocran in the watch, but she¡¯s flirted with me in front of him.¡±  I retorted.


    ¡°And yet, she was with you and you were paying her no mind.¡±  Huffing I shrugged irritated at his persistence. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.  Yesterday was pretty busy.  Maybe¡­  Ah.  Probably because we were running to that mess that happened.¡±  Jimmy shook his head.  ¡°No.  It was right before that though you were heading that way like you knew it was going to happen.¡±  I rolled my eyes again.  ¡°Of course!  I set it all up!  You sound like the mayor, ¡®question everything and everyone.¡¯¡± Jimmy raised his hands in surrender and sputtered ¡°It¡¯s not like that, boss.¡±  ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, I had seen something in the air and was trying to get a good look in case it was something I could carve into stone for her, but whatever it was got away, if it was even there.¡±  I said, choosing to skirt the truth as closely as possible.¡±  Jimmy glanced around and huffed.  ¡°Speak of the literal devil.¡± He grumped.  ¡°I¡¯ll catch you later.  It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll know I¡¯m around in a moment anyway.¡± And he turned on his heel and stepped into the brush.


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    The man seemed to have an allergy to the normal pathways and seemed to have a sixth since when it came to Mowris.  Sure enough in a few moments Mowris bounded into view.  ¡°There you are!¡± She chirped.  I smiled ¡°Here I am!¡±  I proclaimed throwing my hands up like it was revelation.  More seriously I added. ¡°How are you holding up?¡±  She looked at me and shrugged. ¡°I guess it really hasn¡¯t hit me yet.  I mean, I wasn¡¯t the one that saw the beast.  I wasn¡¯t the one almost thrown into a troll feeding pen.¡±  She finished, looking intently at me.  ¡°Perhaps the better question is how are you holding up?¡± She said, her hands clasped in front of her.


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m fine.  I mean, I¡¯m not working my way through troll digestion, right?¡± I said pointing out that it could be worse.  ¡°But, you weren¡¯t supposed to know about that.¡± I said, raising my eyebrow in an obvious question.  She rolled her eyes and smiled. ¡°Bran¡¯s confession to you wasn¡¯t the most quiet.  You may not have noticed that you weren¡¯t the only one picking your jaw up.


    Besides when he approached you, we saw you.  You were ready to swing.  We didn¡¯t want to miss it when you finally showed him how tired you were of him.¡±  She rolled her eyes, blinked and sighed. ¡°Okay we figured we might need to break up a fight but really, I do wish you would stop taking his abuse.¡±  I sighed, frustrated with this old sore spot, feeling like there was a core of truth in what she said, but that her logic was off, too simplified maybe.  I don¡¯t know and I couldn¡¯t articulate it, so instead I shrugged. ¡°Lucky for him, he chose not to draw a weapon.¡±  She smiled and nodded. ¡°No doubt about that.  He¡¯s not bad with that longsword, but next to your speed and two swords¡­  no contest.¡± She shook her head falling in beside me.  When I glanced at her she simply looked back. ¡°Where are we going?¡± she said.  ¡°You lead and I will follow.¡± She added, bouncing on the balls of her feet, dimples flashing as she grinned at me.


    ¡°Well, I want to keep an eye on the poor sector.  I know that most don¡¯t patrol over here and I don¡¯t want it to tempt the creature into using the area as its larder.  It¡¯s bad enough that we¡¯ve lost two.  I don¡¯t want to lose another.  These buildings are so much better than they used to be, but they won¡¯t stop a creature like that.¡±  I shook my head and resumed my march as the dusk began to fall, chatting about random and meaningless items as we tended to do.

 Kueriken

    As we wandered our meanderings took us further into the village and we caught the sounds of someone whistling, intricate and delicate but with some urgency.  Glancing at each other we decided to look into it.  The sound brought us further into the village, as we approached the sound was accompanied by a slapping sound that did not necessarily match the beat of the whistling.   As it fell silently again I sidled along the side of our grocery store, run by Kueriken our orcish or perhaps part orcish grocer. I wasn''t sure.


    Saying she didn¡¯t welcome questions regarding her heritage was a strong understatement.  The lucky ones took a blow that threw them across the road before they landed.  The unlucky ones had to find some way other than our grocer and general store to supply their general needs.  Most of those moved away after suffering general store exile a while with no sign of it letting up.  And it¡¯s not like they got sympathy from anywhere else.  No one wanted to tempt fate when it came to her.


    I peeked around the corner and saw Kueriken sitting on her back stoop shaking her head.  Some noise must¡¯ve given me away as she stood fluidly drawing the large hammer off her back and facing the corner where I stood. ¡°Step out where I can kill you!¡± her guttural tones called out.  She sounded decidedly aggressive.


    As I stepped out she jumped, her hand going up to grab the handle of her war hammer.  I held my hands open where she can see them. ¡°Hey Kuer.  I didn¡¯t mean to startle you.  Just doing my rounds and heard whistling and slapping.¡±  She sighed, tension draining from her as she replaced her hammer on her back sheath with precision born of practice.  Shaking her head the light glistened off her small tusks as she said ¡°I kinda hoped ye were tha beast.¡±


    My brow furrowed as Mowris stepped out beside me. I said ¡°You have to be joking Kuer!  That thing was nearly twice your mass and moves like an attacking animal!¡±  She sniffled ¡°He¡¯s got my Roxie!  I¡¯m sure of it!"  She growled "I wanna pound on his head in retribution.  Roxie has patrolled these streets with you all keeping us all safe and he took her.¡±  She shook her head and sniffled again.  ¡°Well, Roxie does wander sometimes, right?¡±  Keurikan caught her breath and nodded.  ¡°That¡¯s true.  Maybe she¡¯ll be back soon.¡± She added gruffly.  ¡°Well¡­ I better get back.  If you see her, send her on home.  If you see him¡­¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°You call out and my hammer will show him that his size and speed is no match to my anger." I nodded.  ¡°You bet Kuer.¡±  She nodded and disappeared back into her building.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Mowris glanced at me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what is scarier.  The beast or that creature.¡±  I rolled my eyes.  ¡°Awe, Kuer is good people.  She¡¯s just worried about her pet.¡±  Before I could finish my thought that she could indeed be scary Mowris cut in ¡°Her pet?  That creature?  That lizard beast?  It¡¯s basically a crocodile shaped like a huge dog.  Damn things eaten children I swear!¡±  I shook my head and looked at her.  ¡°Really?  Who?¡±  She gave me a look like I was dumb or at least not paying attention ¡°Zhevin.  Glearis.¡± She shook her head like I was simple.  I rolled my eyes.  ¡°Both of those went to relatives and eventually got trained.¡±  I said.  She shook her head and looked at me like I was crazy, ready to challenge me.  ¡°Seriously?¡± I retorted at her disbelief ¡°I tracked them down.  I have it in writing.¡±


    Mowris shook her head again and gave me a sour look. ¡°Her and her dog are dangerous and shouldn¡¯t be allowed in the village.  I mean, who carries a war hammer around all the time?¡±  I shrugged, thinking the statement silly.  ¡°She¡¯s no more dangerous than we are.  I mean we all carry weapons.  She is a strength of this town, like Ocran.¡±  She gasped, causing me to stop in my tracks as she whipped around to face me ¡°Why would you compare that creature to Ocran?  She¡¯s closer to animal than human!¡± She snapped, huffing, anger radiating off her.  ¡°Whatever!   I should be getting back.¡± She said, turning on her heel. I watched her mane whip around as she turned and walked into the night.  I shook my head and headed back toward the poor sector to finish out my patrol uneasy and wondering what had just happened.


    Bed came late.  It was hard to shake the feeling that the creature was just around the next corner, that it was lurking just beyond where I could see, that it was sneaking up to snatch some other poor unsuspecting soul nearby.  Finally exhausted I headed to bed in the morning hoping the day would give them some protection from this predator.

 Silver Brook

    I woke weary a vague recollection of disturbing dreams.  ¡°Your flock is safe.¡± My spirit¡¯s voice injected into my mind, drenching the word flock in a mocking tone. I rolled my eyes, knowing better than to listen to the voices in my head.  I rarely felt like I needed actual sleep, but I actually felt tired, an unusual feeling for me.  I dragged myself out of bed, my steps quickening as the smell of coffee hit my nose.


    Budor sat at the table sipping his own coffee, a second cup sitting at my place.  ¡°I don¡¯t wanna know how you knew I¡¯d be up.  I¡¯ll just accept that you are amazing.¡±  Budor set his cup down and looked at me.  ¡°It¡¯s gotten kinda late and you started grun¡¯in n groanin.  Figured you¡¯d be out soon.¡±  I shook my head.  ¡°I said I didn¡¯t wanna know.  Now you¡¯ve dispelled my amazement. Secret powers that allow you to divine when I will be up, amazing. Listening in while I sleep is just creepy.¡± I said plunking down in my seat. Budor rolled his eyes, shrugging ¡°I can¡¯ help if yer loud, lad!¡±  he said as I cupped both sides of the cup with my hands as though it were something precious and a spiritual gift, which is exactly how I felt about it at that moment.  ¡°There is essence in this drink.  It¡¯s not spirit but it will perk up spiritual energy.¡±  The voice in my head commented making me take a look at it.  Usually when it wasn¡¯t busy berating everything in existence it was in its green mood but this morning it was not only purple but said something nice.  I should probably mark my calendar or something but I honestly didn¡¯t care about much beyond the next sip of coffee.  ¡°Mm.¡± I groaned as I took a sip.  As I set it down ¡°Spirits! I swear this is better than yesterdays.¡±


    Budor only smiled.  ¡°So¡­ Amazing again?¡± I rolled my eyes ¡°Yea. If you can refrain from destroying it with your mouth again.¡± He chuckled, ¡°At¡¯s na¡¯ in tha card¡¯s for me today. Tha trolls ¡®aven¡¯t returned ye¡¯.  I¡¯ll check again ¡®omorrow.¡±  I nodded.  After another sip he spoke again. ¡°No one else ¡®as gone missin¡± he said.  I had just taken a sip and so shook my head as I set the cup down. Swallowing I said ¡°Roxie¡¯s missing.  Kuer is certain the beast got him.¡± Just stating that made me feel worn.  This thing was simply picking and choosing and we couldn¡¯t keep everyone safe.


    Budor sensed my frustration ¡°Wha¡¯s yer plan?¡± he said.  I shrugged.  ¡°I get out there and patrol.  Keep people safe.  Rely on our team.¡±  I sighed, Mays unconscious face crawling up, unbidden in my memory.  Budor nodded.  ¡°At¡¯s the wise rou¡¯e I spose.¡±  I left feeling desperate and frustrated.


    These people deserved to be safe and yet as I wandered around the town I couldn¡¯t help but feel the tension, the fear in the air and I didn¡¯t know what to do about it.  It was already nearing evening, but people went about their tasks quietly, starting at every noise nearby, looking over their shoulders at the slightest noise.  My wandering feet carried me all over the village.  At one point I walked by the Silversmiths house, a sudden harsh sound catching my attention.  I walked cautiously around the house.  The sound came again and sounded more familiar.  It sounded like a shovel striking ground and the grunt of someone moving earth. Stepping past the corner of the house I stopped, leaning until the edge of the building pressed against my shoulder, its solidity holding me up.  From this vantage point I watched Evan push a shovel into the ground, pry up a chunk of earth and toss it to the side.  A shallow hole about the length of a man lay open in front of him.  At one end Ocran sat cross legged.  He nodded to me before returning his gaze to Evan.  Beside the hole lay a large canvas sack that undoubtedly held Garen¡¯s body.  After several more shovels full Ocran got up went over and stood by him.  Evan dug a couple more shovels full, struggling more and moving more slowly after each one.  He sighed and sniffling handed over the shovel and went and sat where Ocran had sat as Ocran began digging.  I turned and walked away to continue my patrol.  Rich people were weird. Who buried their own in their back yard?


    I dunno, maybe I¡¯d feel different about it if it were my mom.  I¡¯d like to think I would be satisfied with the idea that her spirit would be out there, watching over me.  Maybe not.  Maybe I would want something tangible nearby as well.  I shook my head, trying to clear such dark thoughts and headed to Silver Brook inn. Part of it was a quiet restaurant with rooms run by the dwarves, where I knew I could get some quiet and a good meal. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    As I stepped in I noticed it was a bit busier than usual.  I headed up and nodded to Gundle as I sat down at the bar.  Gundle was one of the apparently three dwarves and usually manned the counter.  He was at ease around humans and did a great job of listening.  Aggie was a bit more reticent and usually did the cooking for which he admittedly was skillful.


    Gundle smiled and wandered over while polishing a glass.  ¡°You all are busy tonight.¡± I noted tipping my head toward the tables.  ¡°Yep.¡± He replied nodding. ¡°Grim¡¯s not been in for a while.¡±  He said gesturing to an empty table on the far end of the room.  I shook my head in frustration at how people treated one another. ¡°Yea, he was in jail for a bit.  Tonight I saw him out burying his pa.  Maybe he¡¯ll be by tomorrow.¡± I said sweeping the room with my gaze.  Gundle responded ¡°I¡¯d heard about the issues and that he was in jail while they figured some things out.  Wasn¡¯t sure when he¡¯d be back out.¡± I laid a coin on the table and Gundle stepped away to grab me a drink.  As he placed the drink on the bar in front of me he said ¡°You know he used to come in here with a girl.¡± He scratched at his beard ¡°Emily¡± he said as he recalled her name.  Nodding to himself he added.  ¡°She was nice.  She seemed able to make him smile.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I responded somewhat surprised.  I put a few more coins on the bar ¡°Can you get me a plate?¡±  Gundle smiled and ran back to the kitchen.  They usually served about three different dishes a night dependent on what they had and what Aggie wanted to cook that night.  I always let them pick the dish and have to say I have never had a bad dish.  Admittedly I also recognized some of the cooking since we shared a lot of recipes from the time we both worked to feed the poor sector.  I mentioned that they ate well, didn¡¯t I?


    Gundle set a plate in front of me which surprisingly had a sandwich on it with pulled meat hanging out of it.  It looked like a mix of slow smoked venison and smoked boar meat with small strips of fried boar pork belly and different seasonings. After taking a bite I shook my head.  Gundle watched me wondering if that was a bad sign.  ¡°This is amazing and really frustrating.¡± I said with a smile.  ¡°Now I have to come up with something better and this is going to be pretty hard to beat.  Tell Aggie he¡¯s outdone himself¡± With an excited nod and a grin Grundle ran back to Aggie¡¯s kitchen.


    He returned with a grin and started wiping the counter nearby.  You hear anything interesting recently?  I asked Gundle between bites.  As a bartender he tended to have drinkers who often wanted to unload.  Being a dwarf he tended to listen and nod rather than speaking which made him a favorite among people needing to unload. ¡°No¡¯ really.  People are jus'' scared, Baz.  They dunno what to do an they hate waitin fer the next bad thing to ''appen.¡±  I nodded understanding the feeling all too well.  Finishing up my sandwich I got up.  ¡°Thanks Gundle.  Give Aggie my thanks for the meal.¡± I said as I took one last sip of my ale and headed out the door into the night.


    I headed back to the poor quarter, heading toward the mountain.  From there I followed the roads along the edge of the mountain and around to the forest side listening for any disturbance.  I had gone into the poor quarter and made my first turn as I heard it.  A careful step struck in time with mine then another.  I kept my breathing and movements the same and focused on it with both my normal senses and opened up my spirit senses.  I didn¡¯t see any stretched spirit monstrosity.


    Another step struck as mine did.  I took a few more steps which took me to the end of the lane against the mountain.  Ahead of me was the hill that we chased the beast up and directly across that hill from me was the forest.  I took that corner turning left as I initially planned, but instead of continuing forward I spun careful to silently press myself against the building. I got my hands on my sword pommels and popped them up a thumbnail width out of their sheaths for a quick draw. ¡°Hey boss!  I''ma come around that corner and would really like it if you don¡¯t cut me to ribbons, eh?¡± Jimmy¡¯s voice called out.


    Sighing I sheathed my swords as Jimmy stepped around the corner. ¡°Darn elf ears.¡± He said grinning. ¡°I was just planning on shadowing ya in case the beast showed its ugly mug." I leaned my back against the building a chuckle born of tension and nervous energy escaped and I shook my head.  ¡°Jimmy, you are a nut.  It¡¯s crazy late and a killer monster could literally be out here in the darkness, I looked up at him across from me, the forest behind him.


    Silent movement close by in the forest caught my attention. I turned toward it, hands going to sword pommels.  Jimmy leapt forward diving into a roll just around the corner and out of view to my right.

 Stag and Breakfast

    A massive stag stood regarding me.  Its antlers disappearing impossibly into the tree branches.  We stood, regarding each other for a moment.  For a moment I saw another section of the wood, where it met on the other side of the town and a badger just sitting there.  The stag snorted, then turned, without any disturbance to the branches, and walked into the woods.  I was tempted to open my inner eye, but honestly was nervous about what might happen.


    A shuffling sound to my left broke into my thoughts.  Jimmy had shuffled nervously watching me.  ¡°Did...¡± I paused getting my thoughts back under control and realizing I should word this so I don¡¯t look crazy.  ¡°Did you see anything in the forest?¡±  Jimmy glanced at the forest, then back at me and slowly shook his head.  ¡°No.  But your eyes are better¡¯n mine, boss.  Especially when it comes to the forest¡­ and the dark."  I smiled, realizing Jimmy thought I had caught site of a bunny or something that he missed.  There was no way Jimmy or anyone else would¡¯ve missed seeing what I had seen.


    I went over to the forest to take a look for tracks though I expected to find none.  Before I even bent over I could see that the areas where the stag had stepped the grass was a good bit taller and lusher, with a large strip of shiny new growth at its base.  Almost like reverse tracks.  I glanced at Jimmy.  ¡°Do you see that?¡± I asked pointing to the strange tracks.  Jimmy nodded and looked at me quizzically.  Shaking my head both in confusion and to stave off any questions Jimmy had I turned and headed back along the forest edge of the village, Jimmy¡¯s light step trailing me. ¡°What did you see?¡±  He asked.  I shook my head.  If he didn¡¯t see it then I shouldn¡¯t have either probably so I fell into my old defensive patterns.  ¡°I thought I saw some movement.  I was scared it was the beast but it wasn¡¯t.  There was another weird movement and it was gone.  Those weird prints weren¡¯t made by any undead beast though.¡± I said glancing at Jimmy who was looking at me.  He sheathed his weapons and nodded.  ¡°Definitely not.¡±  He said.  I shook my head.  ¡°It¡¯s getting close to dawn which is even a little late for me, but at least it doesn¡¯t seem like the beast has come back tonight.  I¡¯m heading to bed.¡±  Jimmy nodded and as he opened his mouth the watch horn sounded twice back in town.  Jimmy glanced at me and grinned.  ¡°Well one of us is going to bed anyway.¡±  He said.  ¡°Enjoy your meeting.¡±  Jimmy laughed as he sauntered into the night away from me.  I shook my head and headed toward the Mayors house to see why he summoned the watch to a meeting.


    Everyone filed in, many scrubbing sleep out of their eyes.  ¡°Evan was taken by¡± he paused and shook his head.  I shook my head too, thinking how I was on the opposite side of the town as the beast struck.  It was like it knew!  ¡°Evan was taken by the zombie of Garen.¡±  I blinked, surprised it wasn¡¯t the beast though I guess it was the same effect.  Ocran sputtered.  ¡°I helped him bury him!  He was his height down in the dirt!¡±


    Ocran coughed, embarrassed at his outburst.  ¡°Sorry Mayor.¡±  The Mayor nodded to Ocran.  ¡°Entirely understandable reaction.¡±  He continued. ¡°Frank is out tracking¡­ it.  Nikki is awaiting a response.¡±  I had noted Frank wasn¡¯t here but hadn¡¯t thought much of it.  I opened my inner eye and saw that only one spirit was sitting on her shoulder, interesting.  ¡°While we wait I¡¯m having the Stagg¡¯s Inn bring over some breakfast and coffee for everyone.¡± A statement which earned some cheers.  ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell everyone that the village is in danger.  I will however reiterate that all of you need to show confidence when dealing with your fellow villagers.  If you see dissent step in, squash it.¡±


    At this point Gundle arrived carrying trays of eggs, biscuits, muffins, a jar of jam and one of honey.  Aggy followed carrying a large pitcher of coffee and milk along with a large tureen of a white gravy that smelled of sausage.  They set up on the tables that lined the walls in this room and people queued up.  I grinned at the gratified groans as people go their first sips of Aggies coffee.  The mayor continued as people grabbed food.


    ¡°If you need backup don¡¯t hesitate to use your horn.  The village needs to see that we have control of the situation.¡±  Nikki stepped toward the Mayor who stopped what he was saying and leaned toward her.  He said a faint ¡°Thanks¡± to her and turned back toward us.  Those with food froze, muffins poised before waiting mouths waiting to hear if we would be out chasing a monster.


    ¡°The zombie that was Garen has been destroyed.¡±  People glanced and one another and an excited chatter picked up.  ¡°Understand that the creature that Baz, Bran, Dancer and Sticks ran across, is still out there so everyone still needs to be careful and vigilant.  This is a good note though.  These creatures can be brought low¡± He paused as people nodded and glanced at one another. ¡°and once we find this necromancer they will be brought low as well!¡±  He said, his fist shooting into the air.  Cheers and chatter erupted from the group.  ¡°Alright!  Enjoy breakfast, then go out there and keep our village safe!¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The mayor wandered over and grabbed cup of coffee of his own, got a biscuit and a dollop of honey then wandered back to the front of the room.  As he homed in on his seat I sidled up to him. ¡°I¡¯d like to speak with you.¡±  He glanced at me, biting into his biscuit.  I glanced at the door to the back area meaningfully.  He nodded to me and headed toward the door and I fell in behind him.


    I talked through recent items of note, Kueriken¡¯s missing pet and the Forest Lord putting in another appearance.  ¡°You have no idea why the Forest Lord put in another appearance?¡± Skandro asked.  I shook my head. ¡°And he just stood and stared at you?¡±  Shrugging I said ¡°I get the feeling he¡¯s not much for talking.  Unfortunately I have no idea what his appearance means though.¡±  The mayor looked at me ¡°I read up on him some since the last time we talked.  It seems the last time we had a necromancer he put in appearances then too.  First as a giant stag, like you¡¯ve mentioned.  Later he showed as a giant, tusked boar.  It seemed to hint in the writing that the image shown displayed his state of mind, the stag being a relatively peaceful state of mind while the boar was a much more aggressive display.  We will just have to hope that, what I read is right and since he is still showing up as a stag, he is still feeling peaceful.


    While the Mayor wrote up all that we had talked about I thought through the recent events and something Evan said came back.  ¡°With Evan gone, you control the bank, right?¡± Skandro winced.  ¡°With Evan out, I assume temporary control of the bank.¡± He said ¡°And if Evan does not come back?¡± I asked.  The mayor sighed ¡°The Mayor¡¯s position would own the bank.  Evan dropped updated paperwork off last night.¡±  ¡°Is there anything interesting in there?  I mean could all this be a repeatedly botched grab at the bank?¡± I said.


    Skandro looked at me a moment.  ¡°I suppose that could be possible.¡±  Skandro gave me a measuring look ¡°What?  No leading questions to see if I¡¯m the necromancer?¡±  I laughed ¡°No.  It doesn¡¯t pay to accuse your employer of being the bad guy.¡±  He shook his head ¡°You should suspect everyone.  There is a necromancer among us and its very likely someone you think you know very well.¡±  I kept smiling ¡°So I should have you locked up now?  No.¡± I replied to my own question, shaking my head for emphasis.  ¡°The necromancer tore through this town the first time by sowing suspicion and dissent.  We¡¯ve already had one death due to nothing more than theatrics.


    Can I look through the records for anything that might stand out?¡±  Skandro sighed, looking oddly defeated. ¡°There are oddities in there, or at least there were.  The updated paperwork Evan brought by resolved all of those.¡±  ¡°Wow.  That kids sharper than I gave him credit for.¡± I said.  ¡°Sounds like a lot of paperwork.¡±  Skandro nodded and handed me a small chest he had been leaning on, on his desk.  These are the currently active loans and recent changes.


    Tipping his cup up the mayor drained it.  ¡°This is good stuff.¡± He said ¡°When you¡¯re done why don¡¯t you head home and get some rest?¡± ¡°Oh yea. That reminds me.¡± I said leafing through the loan paperwork. The mayor stopped, hand on the door waiting to hear what I had to say.  ¡°Arla threw me out of the apartment, so if she still asks you for any more payment she¡¯s ripping you off.¡±  Skandro, glanced at me.  ¡°I take it you have a place to stay?¡± he asked.  I nodded.  ¡°Good.  Have them bill me. Arla¡¯s agreement was different so that¡¯s fine.¡±


    The chest held some interesting contents.  There were a lot more loans than I would¡¯ve suspected for such a small town.  Most of them pretty small, but that wasn¡¯t what stood out.  What stood out were oddly written loans for Crai and Arla.  Both came from the poor sector.  Both loans helped them establish their business and both had astronomical interest rates written in a way that made them look small and verbiage that allowed for a request of services from Arla and furniture from Crai in lieu of payment.  A good number of payments showed as ¡°Services rendered¡± for both of them.  Garen was more of an opportunist then I had given him credit for.  ¡°Money is simply power for the powerless.  Something easier gained for the lazy.  I suppose it¡¯s clever for the beasts to come up with a system of value to create a false power.  Gather it and hand it to their offspring to give them a head start on gathering more.  Spirits have no such false measures.¡±  money did not seem a system without issues, but also couldn¡¯t see people frozen at trading livestock and whatnot. At least with trade the people that had the needed skills were the ones with power.


    I headed out noting as I passed through the front room that Frank and Skandro were talking together on one side of the room.  Nikki watched as I crossed the room, nodding as it was obvious I was heading out.  Curious I guarded my thoughts, keeping them on the upcoming bed and peeked with my inner eye.  Both spirits sat on her forehead now.  Seemed like she could deploy a spirit and get information from where it was, interesting.  Nodding back to her I headed out and home to bed.

 Arlas still not home so talked to Crai

    After getting up the next day I went by Arla¡¯s place again.  I was not surprised that she still was not there or at least not answering so I headed over to Crai¡¯s.  His home was covered in ornate woodwork writhing up the pillars and corners of his house.  The yard littered with detailed statues of animals in different poses, making it look like a bunch of animals had been frozen and left on his yard.  I shook the macabre thought from my head.  The statues were impressively detailed, made more impressive that he encouraged kids to play on them, several of the statues wore worn ears and rub spots like badges, evidence of the caress of many little hands.  A large bear stood, huge paws raised, its belly full of pockmarks from the many, many fatal blows from many a daring little hero.


    I knocked on the open door¡¯s frame and walked in.  Crai stood from a squat a little further in the room, an odd tangle of wood that seemed to end in the kind of foot you would see on a dresser or table could be seen just beyond where he stood.  He turned and seeing me, smiled, the sharp elven contours of his face giving it odd angles to those used to human faces.  I understand his smile is unsettling to some which made me wonder if anyone found my smile odd, being a half elf.  No one has mentioned it, but I suppose no one would.


    I waved at Crai and smiled back.  He wiped his hands, coming forward.  ¡°Welcome Baz, what brings you to my humble home?¡±  I looked around ¡°I wish I had a home that was as humble as yours,¡± Grimacing I amended ¡°or possibly even just had a home.¡±  I shook my head.  Crai laughed good naturedly ¡°Give it time, cousin, and thank you.  You flatter me.¡± He looked me up and down ¡°You did not come here to just flatter me though, did you?¡± He cocked his head, looking at me inquisitively.  ¡°You are correct, cousin.¡± I returned.  I found it easy to slip into elven speech patterns when I spoke with another elf.  They were wordy and claimed a familial relation to every other elf in the world, though not all of them would claim that bond with a half breed.  Crai has just always been a good guy, which made me feel even worse for what I was about to do.


    ¡°You had a loan, penned and held by Garen Silversmith, until his death.¡± Crai blinked at me.  I had his undivided attention. ¡°This loan passed to his son, Evan who forgave the loan just prior to being drug off by Garen, rose as a zombie.¡±  Crai blinked at me in surprise and then sat, his brow furrowing as he absorbed this. ¡°That is surprising.¡± He murmured. I waited, after a bit he seemed to come to himself.  He looked me up and down calculating but not unkind.  ¡°Ah.¡± He finally said. ¡°Cousin, you look for a killer and a necromancer.  You will find neither here.¡±  He finished tightly.  I had thought he might become angry but he looked guarded, almost fearful.  I did not doubt what he said, but he was an elf, there was something else being said though not with words.


    His countenance softened and he continued ¡°I did not know of Evans disappearance. Nor did I know he had forgiven the loan.¡±  He paused for a moment, lost in thought, when he continued it was as though he were speaking to himself. ¡°When I arrived here I stumbled into the poor quarter, lost and dazed.  A poor wretch.  I took many trips into the wood, visiting home if you will.  The forest lord came to me while I was on one of these trips bearing a branch.  The most beautiful branch I had ever seen.  He gave it to me, bid me carry it to the Silversmiths.  It was still alive.  It radiated life, so much so my skin tingled being near it.  Where it touched my fingers felt afire.¡±  He said looking at his hands, moving his fingers as though he expected to see sparks of energy come from them.


    I wonder where this is going, but¡­ he is an elf.  I waited a moment and then asked.  ¡°How did the forest lord bid you take the branch to the Silversmiths, did he speak to you?¡±  Crai blinked, like he just remembered I was there.  He shook his head, ¡°No.  It was simply an image in my mind.¡±  ¡°Why did you need to take the branch to the Silversmiths?¡± I asked.  He said ¡°They used the wood to form weapons.  A sad necessity at the time, weapons that radiated life, such a sad contrast.¡±  He shook his head which gave me a chance to adjust my thoughts and remember that Crai, like the dwarves was around near the foundation of the village.  Crai continued ¡°I discovered that since that day, wood melds in my hands, like clay.  It¡¯s hard, slow work, but very satisfying.¡±  He looked at his hands.  ¡°After a while I realized that I could make things for people and was sure my work would be desired but I lacked the means to get the work out, or a place to work at.¡±


    I looked at him.  ¡°You went to Garen, who knew of your work and gave you a loan.¡±  Crai nodded.  ¡°Did you have any idea how badly that loan was written?¡±  Crai shook his head ¡°He seemed so nice.  He told me I could pay with a piece of my work instead of money if I needed.  He told me he liked my work and wanted to write in that he could also ask for a piece instead of payment.  At the time it seemed innocent and simple.  I was still not sure I would make money with my work.¡± I nodded and asked ¡°Except he demanded more and more of your work instead of payment, a work that takes you a long time, taking you away from paying customers.¡± Crai nodded sadly.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you try to get the loan redone?¡±  I asked ¡°I did!¡± He said, frustration plain in his voice.  ¡°I went to the Mayor.  He told me there was nothing he could do directly, but he would talk to Garen for me.  Garen¡¯s next request was a desk that he asked me to deliver to the Mayor.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Is that when you decided to hire someone to get you out from under this loan?¡± I asked.  Crai¡¯s face contorted in confusion ¡°What! No!¡± he said ¡°You did have a good reason to be angry with him.¡± I countered quickly.  It seemed as though there was something he was still hiding and I hoped to get that out of him.


    ¡°The man got me my start!  He was slick, tricky and greedy, yet I would not have gotten my business started without his loan, advice and connections.  Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good.  I told Arla the same when she..¡± He trailed off suddenly and looked away from me.  ¡°Arla found out that your loan circumstances were like hers and came to you.¡±  He nodded tersely, reluctantly, still looking away.  ¡°She wanted your cooperation in getting rid of Garen.¡±  He sighed, his shoulders sagging ¡°I told her no good could come of it.¡±


    ¡±Did she say who she contacted to do the work?¡± He shook his head ¡°No one.  She planned to do it herself.  She was going to start training for the event.¡± He replied in defeated tones.  ¡°She started training to be a necromancer?  And you said nothing??¡± I asked, shocked.  Crai smiled wistfully, ¡°No, cousin.  I may apparently be daft but I am not morally compromised.¡± he said. ¡°I counseled that if she wanted vengeance she should be the one to deliver it and while skilled in many things she was not ready for this.  She decided training in the arts of subterfuge, stealth and building an understanding of the weak points in a body was her way. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I would not have stood by while someone practiced the necromantic art.  Necromancy is a seductive art, leading those who touch it further and further into its web, while the path she chose was that of lengthy and hard training, balancing her life and trying to keep her intent hidden.  My hope was that it would be too much.  She would give up her plan, become distracted and loose her anger.  Humans tend not to hold to a path of change very long.¡± I agreed, nodding.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t tell anyone of her plans?¡±  He smiled gently at me ¡°I¡¯ve kept an eye on her.  If there were any danger I would¡¯ve spoken up.  She has become somewhat stealthy for a human but nowhere near what she needs.   She ventures from her house seldom and visits fairly frequently with Evan.  It seems as though she has given up on her vengeance.¡±  I stood ¡°Thank you for your hospitality and allowing me to do my job.¡±  He nodded ¡°A job you continue although your employer is jail.  Your dedication is commendable.¡±  That stopped me cold.  He saw my look ¡°Oh.  You didn¡¯t know.¡±  I shook my head waiting for him to start laughing at his joke, but his expression simply became embarrassment at his social slip.  ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.  Skandro has started briefing people on what is happening, answering questions, you know.  It¡¯s smart.  He¡¯s trying to control the panic, let people know what is happening rather than hearing inflated rumors.  In this last meeting someone noted that he stood to gain the bank as the group turned mob his guard arrested him and threw him in jail on suspicion of being a necromancer.¡±  I shook my head muttering to myself.  ¡°He knew it was likely someone would pick up on that.¡±


    We were interrupted by a knock at the door.  A young, gangly teenage girl was at the door.  Crai got up and walked over to her, a light smile playing at his lips.


    ¡°Hello Emily¡± he said.  She smiled at him and while she danced in place handed him one of the letters she was holding.  ¡°Evan asked me to give you this today.¡±  My head snapped up ¡°Evan asked you to deliver this?¡±  She pulled a sweet from her mouth and regarded me curiously, then nodded. ¡°When did you speak with him?¡± I asked.  ¡°Last Night.¡± She said shrugging ¡°He said he tried, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to face a man his family had wronged.  He asked that I bring this to Crai sometime today.¡±


    I nodded in answer while thinking.  ¡°Are you a friend of Evan¡¯s?¡± I asked.  She gave me a look like I had sprouted a second head ¡°Evan doesn¡¯t have any friends.¡± She parroted, mimicking Evan¡¯s voice, making her face look mock-stern.  ¡°At least that¡¯s what he told me.¡± She stated flatly then her face softened.  ¡°I tried to be his friend for a while.  I felt bad for him.  No one wants to get close to him.  Everyone¡¯s afraid of ¡®Grim¡¯s Curse¡¯ so they won¡¯t go near him.¡±  Her expression softened looking wistful.  ¡°He¡¯s actually really sweet¡± She paused and defiance crept into her expression ¡°There¡¯s no curse.  He¡¯s just a lonely guy that¡¯s lost so much and people are just mean.¡± She popped her candy back in her mouth angrily.  ¡°He and I would go to Silver Brook.  He likes it there cuz it¡¯s quiet.  His pop had it set up to cover his orders.  The food¡¯s nice there.  I got him to go to The Stag once, but he didn¡¯t like it.  Too much noise and people.¡± She paused in her ramble ¡°Anyway, headin to The Stag.  Arla¡¯s BACK!¡± she nearly screamed almost prancing.  This is the first time she¡¯s played in years!¡± She stilled, the toe of her shoe idly tracing patterns in the dust.  ¡°I¡¯m gonna see if Evan will go. He¡¯ll fuss but I think I could get him to go with me.¡± She saw Crai and I exchange glances.  Her face twisted up in anger. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that!¡± She stamped.  ¡°He¡¯s a good person!¡± Crai held his hand up to forestall her.  ¡°We are not judging, Emily. I¡¯m sorry. Garen rose as a zombie and carried off Evan.¡±  She looked from Crai to me several times, the breath rushing out of her as though she¡¯d been punched. Head hanging she stood there leaning slightly forward, her hair creating a curtain around her face.  Crai got up and walked over to her. Tears splashed on the ground. As he pulled her to him a croaking groan escaped her ¡°Noooo.¡±  Quiet sobs shook against him a moment, her arms dangling loosely at her sides as though she were unaware of Crai.  After a moment she pushed away from him, wiping her face with her arm. ¡°I guess they can¡¯t hurt him anymore.¡± her voice cracked. The sentence ended in a sniffle. She shook her head.  ¡°I¡­ just wanted to try to cheer him up.¡± She sniffled. ¡°I¡¯m so stupid!¡± Crai knelt down in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You were being sweet. I¡¯m sure he would¡¯ve appreciated that.¡±  She stamped angrily, shaking her head she said ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to see Arla now. I lost someone who wouldn¡¯t even call me a friend! He lost his dad!¡± turning she fled back the way she came. Crai and I watched her go. Crai sighed heavily and returned to his seat.


    Crai was concentrating intently on the note as though he were having difficulty reading it.  ¡°What¡¯s the note say?¡±  ¡°Evan gave back all of the furniture Garen requested for himself.  He says it¡¯s all in the entryway of the Silversmith home, waiting for me to take it back.¡±  He looked at me ¡°I know the boy is trying to put things right, but I don¡¯t sell items.  I take commissions to craft items to specification.¡±  He shook his head ¡°Tis a fine gesture and much appreciated.  I just need to figure out how to handle it.¡±  I smiled at Crai ¡°I could help you.  You keep doing what you do best, and I will find buyers for you.  It¡¯s something I have a skill at.¡±  Thinking back to my time in the city.  I feel like I spent most of my time running and getting beaten, but I made a few contacts.


    Crai smiled at me. ¡°I would appreciate that.  While I do trust family you have counselled me to exercise caution and so I will.  I would still like to know of the sale before it happens and have the option to approve or deny the sale.¡± I nodded ¡°Of course.  That¡¯s only sensible.  You will see all paperwork and have final say on each sale.  Thank you for allowing me to work with you on this.  I will be back later to talk through it¡± I said ¡°Right now I¡¯m going to pay a visit to Arla.¡±  I stood. Crai¡¯s hand caught my wrist in an iron grip.  I could feel the tingle he spoke of.  I glanced down at his hand in surprise.  Mistaking my surprised look for anger he drew his hand back. ¡°Sorry cousin.  I merely wanted to tell you that Arla¡¯s dealings with Garen were much worse than mine.¡±  I nodded.  ¡°I had already planned on talking with Arla, she will have a chance to defend herself.¡±  I said.  Crai looked down nodding.  As I left he remained seated, lost in thought.  I¡¯d never questioned Skandro or his motivations but I wondered how deep he was in all of this.  These loans would¡¯ve been reviewed by him.

 The Stags inn

    Long before I got to The Stag energetic strands of music were floating by me, getting louder as I got closer.  Pretty soon I could see The Stag. It was apparently unable to hold the celebration which spilled out of its double doors out onto the street in front of the inn where couples laughed and danced while Chelsy, The Stag¡¯s owner, wove her way through the revelry deftly, carrying a tray, delivering drinks and collecting pay.  She looked up at me, smiled and waved. She glanced to my side where the watch horn hung and her expression went tight and angry.  I sauntered over toward the gyrating crowd she served.  Chelsy waived one of her workers over, handed them the tray she was carrying and came over.  I always enjoyed Chelsy.  She is one of those people who was small in stature but had a huge presence.  Her red hair framed a freckled face that focused its intense gaze on me.  ¡°I don¡¯t care if I¡¯m ¡®disturbin the peace¡¯¡± she said making a face saying the last bit, her voice thick with mockery.  ¡°This town needs a break from being scared¡± she said squaring on me.  I said ¡°I¡¯m not here to break this up, but have you thought that perhaps you are making a target of your establishment and these people?¡±  Her eyes jerked to the people behind her, worry twisting her features a brief moment before smoothing. She looked back at me. ¡°If they weren¡¯t here they would be hiding at home, stewing in the fear this creep has the town in.  Here they are dropping that, spending time with others rather than being terrified that their neighbor¡¯s out to get ¡®em.¡±  She paused a moment her face losing its normal animation as she went serious.  ¡°I¡¯ve heard the stories.  This town tore itself apart the last time.  A good number of innocents died at the hands of their neighbors.  Do you know kind of scars that leaves on people?  I do.¡±  She ground out forcefully.  A specter in her families past might be driving this, I figured. ¡°I just want them to still be a community, maybe this will help them stop jumping at shadows a bit.¡± Chelsy said.  I nodded and shrugged.  ¡°You¡¯re right.  This is a good thing.  I¡¯m still a bit concerned though so I will stick around.  You keep them happy, I will keep them safe.¡±  She searched my face a moment and nodded to herself.  Then she nodded again, smiling and turned back to her patrons.


    I wandered around the back of the building to shoo some of the more romantically inclined couples back to the party.  It would embarrass them, but it was better than them being caught out here on their own by something with a more sinister purpose.  With all the noise it was hard to hear anything but I caught the noise of someone else coming as I started rounding the corner.  I raised my hand knowing I couldn¡¯t avoid the collision and managed to cushion the impact.  Opening my eyes I glanced down see Mowris looking up at me, surprise evident on her face.  Quickly that surprise dissolved as she glanced down then back up at me, her eyebrows creeping up, her face a question.


    I glanced down as well and realized with shock that I had one of her breasts firmly cupped in my hand.  She smirked as my face flushed.  I wanted to jump away, stammer an apology and a corner of my brain screamed at me ¡®Wait!  This is your chance!¡¯  She hadn¡¯t moved away, so I closed my eyes and leaned in for the kiss I¡¯d dreamed of more than I would like to admit.  A stinging slap popped my eyes open.  Her face was twisted in anger. ¡°Animal!¡± She growled ¡°Disgusting beast!¡±  Instead of stepping back she concentrated, her hand moving weaving a spell while she continued ¡°After all I¡¯ve done for you.  All I¡¯ve given up so you could feel like part of us!¡±  I braced for the impact of whatever spell she was casting.  I hadn¡¯t seen this one before.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The spirits voice cut in ¡°Pah!  Tiny spirit.  Command it all you want, clown wizard.  You dabble in a world you know nothing of.¡±  She blinked, surprised at the complete lack of effect. Sputtered she settled instead for driving her fist into my gut.  It was perhaps one of the weakest hits I¡¯d ever taken, but hurt the most.  She spun, striding away from me. ¡°I raised you up and you¡­¡±  She sputtered.  ¡°you¡­¡±  She sputtered, turning back towards me.


    Confused I shook my head. ¡°I thought¡° I started to say. She quickly cut me off.  ¡°You thought what?¡± She sneered. ¡°Since I didn¡¯t run screaming, since I gave you a look and hid my horror that you had a shot at playing at being human with me?¡±  She concentrated, hands flashing again as she shouted her next spell.  A dark humor rolled through my mind ¡°You are lucky I¡¯m feeling generous¡± I heard from my spirit and then I felt energy ripple coming from me.  Whatever she cast failed again but my spirits energy did not seem to affect her either.


    Mowris stamped her feet in rage and screamed her frustration and anger to the sky. She glared at me ¡°You are barely more than a¡­ a talking animal!¡± She hissed venomously at me and ran into the night.  I stood, stunned a moment before realizing she was alone at night.  I had no clue yet how I felt about what had just happened outside of hurt, but I remembered May¡¯s unconscious face slapping against the back of the beast and I knew regardless of how I felt no one deserved that.


    I ran along the wall, remembering why I was there.  I reached the corner and sure enough there were several intertwined figures on the back wall.  ¡°You all get back to the front!¡±  I yelled, startling them.  In a scramble shoulders were covered, limbs disentangled, skin disappeared beneath cloth but they disengaged and started toward the front.  I watched long enough to ensure they were going.  Turning I ran after Mowris. Soon her angry footfalls and muttering caused me to slow. Following her at a distance I made sure she got to her door and got inside.


    After I wandered back toward the party numb. A dark mood settled in like a cold mist. I should¡¯ve known. I shook my head and sighed.  Something hit the road behind me.  I turned to see the beast down the road, one claw bracing itself against the corner at the roof of the building. It turned from looking down the street away from me to looking up until it faced me.  Time seemed to freeze a moment as it and I looked at one another.  Both the beast and I exploded into motion.  The beast darted away behind the building.  I raced after it seeing its ankle disappear around a corner heading back toward the party.  I poured on the speed. It¡¯s dark. No one¡¯s going to see me. Hopefully.  After a lot of glimpsing traces of it and I came to the wall of the mountain behind the town.  I stopped and concentrated but could not hear or see any trace of it.


    Looking around without finding any trace I realized it had lured me a good way away from the party.  Turning I sprinted back toward the party.  I noted with relief that there were no screams of alarm or pain and even a couple pairs of people behind the building.  Angrily I shooed them away and headed back to the front.  I wandered the edges of the crowd, checking every so often behind the building to keep everyone up front.

 Arlas story

    As the evening wore down people began disappearing.  Checking the back of the building and the music faded out and did not return.  Arla will still need to pack up her stuff, I figured.  Yet when I got back I found Chelsy cleaning up and everyone gone.  ¡°Where¡¯s Arla?¡± I asked.  ¡°Oh, she said she needed to run but that she would leave her stuff up and maybe come back to play some tomorrow.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± I hurled over my shoulder as I bolted towards Arla¡¯s home.


    Ahead I could see Arla had reached her door.  As I called out to her she started and frantically tore her door open and bolted inside.  I mentally called to a nearby spirit to stop the door from being able to close.  The door swung quickly, slamming into its doorframe and to Arla¡¯s surprise it popped back open.  She glanced at me striding toward her and closed it again and again.  ¡°Arla, stop.¡± I said calmly as I stopped a couple steps from her door.  The panic faded from her eyes, replaced by steely anger.  ¡°I owe you nothing!¡± she spit at me.  ¡°I didn¡¯t say you did.  I am here as a watch officer.¡±  Shock was chased off her face by suspicion, the panic returning.  ¡°You can¡¯t use the law to force anything on me!¡± Her voice climbing shrilly high.  I kept my distance, cocking an eyebrow.  ¡°When have I ever forced anything on you, Arla?  I think you know or at least suspect why I¡¯m here.  Can we step inside and talk or shall we lay everything out here in the street?¡±  Her jaw muscle stood out as she clenched her jaw. I could see the internal fight.  She did not want to let me in. What¡¯re you hiding Arla? What did you do? I thought.


    ¡°Can¡¯t close the damn door anyway.¡± She muttered as she walked into her home, her shoulders sagging.  I followed her in, shutting the door behind me and followed her down the hall and around the corner where she sat on her knees in front of a low table.  Without looking at me she tiredly asked ¡°So why are you here?¡±


    How to proceed? Perhaps the direct route is best, it worked with Crai.  ¡°Why did you kill Garen?¡± She sighed and shook her head. A tear ran down her cheek.  Got you, I thought. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to.¡±  She wrapped her arms around herself.  She shook a bit then looked at me, her eyes narrowing.  ¡°I am sure he was either a necromancer or was in league with a necromancer!  Why else would his dog be undead?¡±  ¡°You killed him because you thought he was a necromancer?¡± Arla was nodding. ¡°The guy that helped you start your business?¡±  Her face hardened. She stared at me incredulously.  ¡°What???¡± She yelled.  ¡°He HELPED me!?  Helped ME!!¡± her voice climbing in volume and tone.  She leaned forward, raising up ¡°He helped HIMSELF!¡± she screamed, slapping her hand down hard with a loud crack on the table that had to sting but if it did she didn¡¯t show it.  ¡°He held that loan over me!  Used me and when I was stupid enough to think he loved me he PASSED ME AROUND! He offered me to his friends like some kind of PET!¡±


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    My skin crawled. ¡°He took away the things I loved!  Forbid me to play music, to entertain!  Then he poisoned them, making me do them for him, threatening to cast me and my daughter out, all the while strutting around the town, adored for being such a wonderful person.¡± Choking she sobbed.  Her little girl ran from a back room to her mom, hugging onto her, it seemed, as small as she was that she was trying desperately to heal the wounded creature before me.  I watched, speculation forming in my mind.  ¡°I had his child.¡± She stated softly while she stroked her daughter¡¯s hair lovingly.


    My mind reeled.  A disaster unfolded in front of me getting worse every time I thought it was as bad as it could get. She turned her tear-stained face to me, her sneer turning feral.  ¡°Yes.  I wanted him dead!  I hate him! I hate myself because of him!  I wanted to kill him myself!  I dreamed about it!¡±  She dropped her hands to her side.  Her crying daughter held her even tighter, squeezing her like if she could only hold her mom tight enough it would fix everything.


    Arla looked at her hands.  ¡°But I¡­ I didn¡¯t mean to.¡± She said softly, almost to herself. She sounded surprised. ¡°I went into the mob. I just wanted to hurt him. Get in a punch, a kick or a bite.  He wouldn¡¯t know.¡± She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.  ¡°He wouldn¡¯t know.  He wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt us for it. The mob it¡­ it was so much.  The noise. The pushing.  I was lost.  I was¡­ I just wanted out! Suddenly he¡¯s falling on top of me. I couldn¡¯t be under him again. I couldn¡¯t¡± She had curled herself around her daughter and was sobbing, rocking back and forth.  ¡°I slammed my hand up, as hard as I could.  His head turned and I felt a crunch through his jawbone.  His neck.  I broke it.¡±  She said, almost like she couldn¡¯t believe she did it.  She looked at me, a crazed look in her eye ¡°He deserved to die.¡±  She stated with a sniffle ¡°Why¡­¡± Hiccupping she sobbed, wailing ¡°Why do I feel like this??¡±  I didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Flesh is torture. Release this poor spirit!¡± cut across my mind, demanding. At this moment I couldn¡¯t disagree with him.


    I wanted to tell her it would be alright.  I wanted to avenge the pain done to her but the vengeance was done and the pain was still there.  I reached out to touch her hand, to do anything to comfort the miserable creature in front of me.  She snatched her hand back as though scalded.  ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± she shrieked then added in an angry hiss ¡°You don¡¯t get to touch me!  He made me give you your room.  Told me that I had to give you whatever you wanted!  Every time you came to me, I knew you were here to demand my services, to remind me I was his beast.¡± I reeled as though struck.  She cradled her hand eyes distant, lost. She continued softly ¡°You can¡¯t touch me.¡± I stalked down the hall, mind ablaze. Yes there was a necromancer out there, but a monster had died.  A monster that had permission or perhaps even collusion, my mind supplied, horrified at the thought that the man I worked for may have been involved in taking advantage of Arla.  As I staggered out of Arla¡¯s apartment into the evening Arla¡¯s hiccupping sobs seemed to follow me.