EverBright: The Darkness Pool

Interlude:

No birth. No beginning. Nothing the Vorlox could trace of its own origins. It was the primordial. As flora and fauna began to take root in the world at large, the Vorlox had its own domain. This domain. This wood now littered with trees and smaller vegetation, encroaching on what was once a flat gray expanse where the Vorlox could spread and stretch smoothly and comfortably in every direction, finding sustenance from the smallest creatures that deigned to crawl into its space.

The Vorlox mused. It didn’t eat. It didn’t need to eat. Instead it took a visceral pleasure in consuming something outside itself, breaking it down and absorbing it. Those acts gave the Vorlox a feeling of power. It had never thought of an existence beyond languid relaxation until the first time it encountered a small animal.

It happened after the farthest reaches of the Vorlox’s domain had become pockmarked with trees. Small, scraggly shrubs had long ringed the far reaches of where the Vorlox had chosen to dwell. These trees , however, were different. They were invasive. They didn’t just cling to life on the edge. They grew. They thrived. They created more growth around them. They fostered life. This was a great irritant to the Vorlox and its peace.

Its solitude and silence was being broken by the twittering of birds and the skittering of tiny feet. At first, the Vorlox simply pulled into itself and away from the new growth. Then, the growth simply filled the new void the Vorlox had created, and it decided to fight back.

It pushed toward the trees. Surrounded, engulfed them. Its tendrils crawled the bark, snaked around every branch, coating them entirely, leaf and all. And it waited. Waited. Waited. The lack of sunlight killed the leaves quickly, but the tree was otherwise unaffected. It was not broken down. It was not consumed. It was resilient. The tree waited as stalwartly as the Vorlox itself, and for the first time, the Vorlox knew anger. This was not the mild irritation it had felt before. This was rage. This growth, not sentient, but still refusing to budge presented the Vorlox with an enemy to its will.

So, it pushed more. It pushed harder. The tree bent. Some small and even medium sized limbs seemed to crack under the strain, but the trunk, bent beyond horizontal, refused to break. Eventually, the Vorlox retreated to the base of the tree, seeing it right itself vertically in response to the retreat.

It rested at the base of the tree, seething, taking in all the trees surrounding it like an infestation. Its anger grew and spread. It didn’t just hate this invasion, it despised it and the vitriol extended then, not just to the trees but to all the growth they fostered in and among their number. Birds flitted and twittered, and it seethed. Squirrels bounded and played, and it seethed.

Then, a curious squirrel got too close and in anger, the Vorlox grabbed it and squeezed. It pulled the squirrel to the ground, covering and smothering it. Even before the creature stopped fighting, its fur and bones were beginning to break down. The reaction from the Vorlox was the unfettered glee of a new experience. The feeling of power was an exponential thing compared to the small creatures it had consumed to this point. And it wanted more. All of its anger and hate leaked away, replaced by raw need, unabated desire.

It was in this moment that the Vorlox began to long for coexistence with its enemy, the trees. The possibility of a different sort of future unfurled itself in the mind of the Vorlox, and it was suddenly pleased though the joy of this sensation would be nothing to the first time it captured a human.

Even for the Vorlox, who does not measure time, it was long ago. Long before people of so many types littered the land like they do now. Long before the imprisonment that continues fresh in its mind. And that imprisonment began in a distant past where humans wielded greater power than any the Vorlox has seen since being freed. That sort of power seems to have dwindled to near non-existence in this time.

In the times right before its imprisonment, the power was thick in the air and could be sensed all around. In that time, the wielders of spells were in constant battle with one another. The ferocity of their wars devastated many lands and frightened the powerless. But, as they murdered one another in search for supremacy, they were dying faster than they could be replenished. Their once proud bloodlines watered down to mediocre levels.

The last great spell maker was the one that built the lock that kept the Vorlox trapped so long. Even those that he sired were mere shadows of that man’s strength. It eventually took a group of six taking him by surprise to end his supremacy.

The Vorlox knew all these things because one of his sons constantly came to speak to the tree that was its prison, to mourn his father and bemoan his plight. All the while, the Vorlox could only sit and wait for the someday when it would be free again, taking exquisite pleasure in the failure of those who created the cage.

Now, delicious freedom danced in the mind of the Vorlox as it planned for what the future could be like. It was tempered, at the same time, by a constant sense of vigilance. The Vorlox was determined to avoid the flames that chased it into its last cage. It would not let that happen again. It could not again face the cage after tasting freedom again.

It thought of the animal manifestations it could create. If only they could continue without the constant urge to rejoin the whole. If the Vorlox could learn to separate itself, then and only then, would it be free from the fear of being caged once again.

Chapter 7

SeaCray

Two weeks into their stint in SeaCray, and the job had become routine. There was no sign of that awful black goo, and the path had been cut and rerouted to avoid the places where the only path went near.

After the incident where Clockwise lost his hand, the army had clearly marked the edges of the trail, so it could be avoided in the future. Knee high stakes were stuck in the ground with red cloth strips tied to the top of each. They had hoped that would be enough for people to steer clear, but when the Malsen cart incident happened, they decided to reroute the entire thing.

The spot where the SeaCray regiment would hand off the groups they led to EverBright soldiers was a wide empty spot near the middle of the woods, popular for hunting parties to camp in before all the trouble started. Though it was near the middle, it was still closer to EverBright, which made the soldiers stationed in SeaCray envious of the shorter and safer trips of those in EverBright.

To most, it would not have seemed like a noticeable difference, but to conscripts, keeping score is second nature. They were in a place they didn’t want to be doing dangerous work they didn’t want to do. The man in charge of the SeaCray contingent, Captain Wemel, noticed resentment in his men early on and decided to attack the problem with distractions.

The life of a soldier vacillates between long stretches of mundane rigidity and short bursts of intensely violent, life threatening danger. These men, though, hadn’t ever been in an altercation with the thing in the woods. The most violent thing any of them had dealt with to this point was the occasional belligerent caravaneer unhappy with the regulations the army enforced for passage through the woods to EverBright.

So, then, they only knew the mundane times, and many made no attempt to disguise their displeasure with the situation. As ready as volunteers may be to fall in line, these were men from farms and trades that only overlapped with military service in glancing ways. They gave respect because of family and because of experience not because of rank. Therefore, Wemel knew he had an uphill battle nearly from the beginning.

Major Druse didn’t have these troubles in EverBright. Men from EverBright had been present when the army first came in contact with the thing. One of them had even been injured with a missing hand to show for it. Those things meant that the soldiers taken from their young men were much more amenable to the task because they felt like they were protecting their families from a real threat unlike the soldiers from SeaCray who still saw the thing as a vague rumor of a nebulous threat.

Thinking it best to address the situation as soon as possible, Captain Wemel decided to turn the new skills his troops were learning into competitions. He even got permission from Major Druse to give pay bonuses to soldiers for achieving certain benchmarks. As a result, they weren't just learning how to make a bed, they were working to do it quickly and crisply. They were just learning how to shoot arrows more accurately, they were aiming for the monetary incentive that came with hitting the center of the target consistently. There were another half dozen such tasks that the Captain had identified as earmarks of the type of soldiers he wanted to command, and those were the tasks he gave bonuses for. This made most of the soldiers much more willing to practice in their off time and made them eager to attack the tasks with their full attention.

The brilliance of Captain Wemel's system was that he never rewarded a soldier for being better than his peers. He rewarded incremental steps toward excellence, so each man or woman competed only with himself or herself. Of course, the soldiers would brag about who finished a milestone first, but that sort of competitive spirit was natural and never encouraged by the Captain himself. He never played favorites. He commended effort and progress. He condemned laziness but respected earned lassitude.

Tiernan and Widdershins were introduced to this game as soon as they arrived, but Tunny tried to stop their participation. "Captain, with all due respect, we are only here for a couple of months. We don't want to get in the way of what you've got going on."

"Nonsense. When you're here, you are fully a part of what we're doing here." Captain Wemel would not be dissuaded. "I look forward to seeing what your boys can do! Now, get yourselves settled. Your first run will be tomorrow. No rest for the weary, eh!" With that, the Captain left them alone in the barracks to get their bunks squared away.

As soon as he was gone, Tunny turned an angry face on them. "If you do ANYTHING to embarrass me with his little games, I will see you get the worst duties I can think of when we get back to Everbright. Is that understood?" He stared each of them down as they stood stock still. "Well?"

"YES, SIR!" They all answered at once, shouting louder than necessary. This had become an unspoken protest among them in response to Tunny's harsh treatment. It satisfied him though.

"Finish and head to mess," was all he said before he walked out, leaving them alone.

"Was that an order?" Widdershins asked the question that the entire weary group was thinking.

"Probably." Tiernan voiced with reluctance amidst a chorus of sighs. So, tired as they were, they headed to mess as a group hoping that they would have leave to go to bed as soon as possible. As they exited the barracks though, noises from the other side piqued their interest, and they veered from their route to see what was going on. They had heard a repeated series of silence, "thunk", "cheer", three or four times before they made it around and saw the commotion.

On one end of an open field, there were a series of 6 archery targets set up, spread apart, clearly designed for up to 6 people to practice at once. On the other end, though, there was a semicircular crowd standing behind a single shooter, a short girl sporting a blonde braid. She was walking from the lane of the third target to the lane of the fourth. When she got there, the cheers hushed as she raised the hand crossbow in her right hand. "THUNK!" The bolt hit the bullseye.

As the cheers rose up again, Tiernan looked at the previous three targets and saw that each held three arrows in its bullseye. "THUNK!" Tiernan looked again at the current bullseye to see the most recent arrow had found its mark. Tiernan had trained under a renowned marksman. He knew shooting better than almost anyone he'd met before, and he was impressed.

"She's amazing," he said to no one in particular. Her stance was perfect. Her concentration was evident, and the results couldn't be argued. When Tiernan shot in front of a crowd, he always had a flair for the dramatic. He would play to the crowd just like he did when performing music. This girl, though, was focused and controlled. There was no flashiness to what she did, just cold precision. Soon, he would find out why.

Widdershins, who had gone to the edge of the crowd to ask what was going on, jogged back to Tiernen. "Looks like this is one of the games the Captain was telling us about. That there's Alika," he said, "gesturing toward the shooter." He hushed then, as she took aim and put yet another arrow in the bullseye. Leaning into Tiernan's ear and talking over the cheers, he said, "She's the best shooter here, and passing this test will put her on the high tier the game has. Everyone's into it."

Tiernan immediately felt the fire of competition rise in him. He'd already decided that he wanted to use shooting as a way to earn some extra money for the wedding from the incentives, but now he had a goal in mind set by the display this Alika was putting on. There had been no one since Narlix with this kind of skill, and he had to test himself against her.

Tiernan turned and smirked, nudging Widdershins and gesturing to the other side of the crowd. "Looks like we're not her only new fans." Widdershins looked where Tiernan indicated and let out a poorly timed, "Ha!" The whole crowd had just hushed as Alika took aim again.Suddenly, they were all staring daggers at the pair, including Alika and the target of the laugh, Tunny. Both of them then froze where they were with their mouths shut, barely daring to breathe before her next shot found its target and the subsequent cheer gave them much needed relief.

From then, they watched Alika finish the run of all 6 targets, each with three perfectly placed arrows. Afterward, they attempted to melt into the crowd heading to the mess, but soon enough, they felt Tunny's presence behind them. His teeth-gritted whisper rained spittle on the back of their heads. "I JUST TOLD YOU NOT TO EMBARRASS ME, YET YOU IMMEDIATELY SHOW YOURSELVES TO BE IGNORANT CLODS!"

"Sorry, sir." Widdershins was quick to apologize, knowing the blame was his.

"YOU SHOULD BE. NOW, EAT THEN GET OUT OF MY SIGHT. I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU UNTIL TOMORROW."

"Yes, sir," both of them responded this time, looking at each other in wide-eyed surprise at the good fortune they were just handed. They then saw Tunny hurry to Alika's side to introduce himself and headed to eat, pointedly steering clear of them while they were in the mess. They noticed, though, that Tunny was practically fawning over the girl throughout the meal. She appeared to be treating him as a superior officer while he was displaying all the behavior of a moonstruck school boy.

"Well, that's interesting." Tiernan commented. "I'm glad he's forgotten Cleal so quickly."

"Yeah," Widdershins responded with a mouth full of food. "Maybe that'll keep 'im off our backs."

"Here's hoping." Tiernan raised his cup of water in a mock salute, gesturing in their direction. The rest of the meal went quickly, and they rose together to return their plates and cups and sleep for the rest of the night.

When morning duty called, Tiernan felt like he'd just gotten to sleep. Exhausted as he felt, the night was one of tossing and turning, thinking about everything that had transpired with Cleal, his mother and Ryland, Clockwise and the shop, even memories of Narlix creeping in.

Wake up happened a couple hours before dawn. The actual trip wouldn't begin until dawn had actually broken, but there were any number of preparations to make before they could leave, all of which were expected to be made before the caravan's designated arrival time. Both Major Druse and Captain Wemel agreed on the importance of presenting a crisp, organized face to the public in the midst of this duty. Both had spoken to the troops on numerous occasions of the way that it instilled confidence in the people they were escorting.

Widdershins groggily rose to see Tiernan already in full uniform, "Up early?"

Tiernen grunted doing up the buttons on his jacket. "Couldn't sleep. Heard people stirring and decided to get up and get ready myself. Thought I might find some food before we left this way instead of eating it cold, mid-morning when we get back." That was one of his least favorite aspects of the first run of the morning. It was over breakfast, but they decided it was inefficient to send them with food because it would waste time breaking for a meal or else look improper if they were trying to eat on the move, so they were saved food that was always cold when they got back. Occasionally in EverBright, the cooks had some food ready before the first trip left, so they could grab a quick bite.

"Good idea." Widdershins said as he rubbed his eyes and stood to put on his pants. "Give me two minutes. I'll go too."

When they got to the mess, they saw something that surprised and excited them. There was one table, half full of soldiers eating, and a few more in line. They quickly took places at the end, and spoke to the closest soldier. " Is it always like this in the morning?"

Wallen explained. "It is now. For the first few weeks, the first trip soldiers just ate a cold breakfast when they got back, but one of our cooks volunteered to start getting up earlier to make sure we had food before we left. Captain thought it was such a good idea that he made it mandatory and just moved all the meals up an hour in the day so the cooks didn't have to work extra long."

"I didn't even notice last night. We were so exhausted when we got here. We just ate and crashed. I'm Tiernan. This is Widdershins."

"Wallen. I'd shake your hand, but..." He smiled, shrugged and lifted his plate that was filled with biscuits and sausage gravy.

Tiernan smiled back. "We need to talk Major Druse into doing this when we get back to EverBright." Tiernan said to Widdershins as the three men sat at the now full table.

Wallen proceeded to introduce them informally to the table. Most of the rest nodded or grunted. The only one they recognized was Alika because of her display yesterday. Tiernan and Widdershins were the only two from yesterday's EverBright group to be added to the morning trip. "Looks like Tunny intends to keep being kind to us." Widdershins suggested to Tiernan as he looked around.

"What do you mean?" Alika asked a little too quickly, and one of the soldiers beside her laughed openly until she elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut it." Then, she turned again to Widdershins. "What do you mean about Tunny? He seemed quite gentlemanly to me when we met yesterday."

Widdershins glanced at Tiernan who waved his hand in a resigned gesture, knowing Widdershins loved to talk so refusing him was useless. "Well, Tunny is quite fond of making life hard on the soldiers under him and on Tiernan in particular. Of course, being his friend makes me collateral damage."

"Right," Tiernan chimed in. "Your troubles with Tunny have nothing to do with your tendency to run your mouth."

"Fine. Fine" Widdershins conceded. "I might make myself a target, but I catch plenty of extra just being around you." Tiernan couldn't deny it, so he said nothing. "Anyway, Tunny doesn't much like Tiernan here. You see, there's this girl named Cleal.

"I've seen her show in EverBright. She's good." Another soldier added to the conversation as they were all now intently listening to Widdershins."

"Right. She is. Anyway, this girl, Cleal, is a minstrel at a tavern in EverBright. The place is really popular among the soldiers and the nights she performs, they always pack the place out.

So, Tunny starts taking a liking to her right? He starts following her around, trying to court, and he's persistent even though she says she isn't interested. He ignores her. He's convinced that his family's money and fancy title will eventually wear her down.

Thing is, she and this dolt," Here, he nudges Tiernan, "have been in love since they were kids, but our boy, Tier, has always been too scared to do anything about it."

"Not scared. Patient" Tiernan corrected.

"Right. Patient." Widdershins gave no credence to this explanation. "Anyway, it's obvious to anyone who sees Tiernan and Cleal together that it's just a matter of time, and bravery..." He looked at Tiernan again and waggled his eyebrows. "...before they get their relationship figured out. Tunny could see it too, but again, he was sure his status and money could change her mind.

Well, last night, Tiernan finally got it in his head to make his intentions known and he proposed marriage to Cleal right there on stage. Tunny left in a rage, and when we left with Cleal and our families, Tunny was waiting outside to give us this assignment. Two months in SeaCray. Breaking up the happy couple before they could even be happy together."

"So, Tunny is single, getting over rejection, and his family has money?" The soldier next to Alika listed off the details on his fingers. "Sounds perfect for you, Lika." He said familiarly. She elbowed him in the ribs again.

"Seems like I could do worse than trying to cheer him up." Alika said. "He seemed awfully eager to forget about something as we were talking last night. He told me all about his life in Malinet and how the capital city was so much better than these backwater towns. He didn't say anything about EverBright specifically at all. I guess I know why now." She stood to leave. "He was perfectly sweet to me. Maybe he just hasn't found the right girl yet." With that, she took her plate and deposited it with the soldier on washing duty and left the mess.

"Good luck to her I guess." Widdershins shook his head, dumbstruck.

"Eh, she's had it rough. Been looking for something to get her out of this town for a while now." Wallen told them.

Tiernan was intrigued. "Why's that?"

"You ever hear of Yaln?"

Tiernan nodded. "He was the first person to go missing in the woods right?"

"The second actually, but the first from SeaCray. Yaln was her father. It was just

them. Her mother was long dead by that time. That was years ago now, she spent those years in a home for orphan girls learning to sew and cook and any number of other things she despised.

She wasn't even conscripted you know. She volunteered. She wants to get that thing in the woods, and she wants to get as far from here as she can. I guess she figured the army is her best chance to do both."

"That must be hard." Tiernan said, thinking of the father he has seen but never known. "I can't imagine." With that, he rose as well, taking care of his plate and heading to prepare for the journey. He heard the rest follow, as time was drawing near to depart.

The trip this morning consisted of two wagons. The merchant rode at the front of the first with his hired hand leading the second. They were carrying a load of grains. There were flour mills in both EverBright and SeaCray, but there were still plenty of customers who prefer to buy the grain and have it milled as they need because the grain lasts longer in storage.

Since the problems in the woods, middle men like this merchant were finding decent margins to be had buying directly from farmers and making the trek through the woods. So many were rightfully afraid of what may happen, and those brave or foolish enough not to worry were doing well for themselves.

The soldier contingent consisted of 10. 4 soldiers in front, 4 in back, and two on either side of the middle. Tiernan and Alika were placed up front. Widdershins was with Wallen in the back. Even though they needed to stay vigilant, it gave Tiernan ample time to get to know the girl better.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that? I haven't seen anyone that good since my teacher." Tiernan opened the conversation on a topic he assumed she would be glad to talk about, and she didn't disappoint.

"My father taught me the basics."

"Sorry to hear about him." Tiernan tried to empathize.

"It's okay. I am proud of who he was, and I like to talk about him. I would hunt with him when I was young. After he was gone, my crossbows were the only thing I had that helped me remember him, so I kept practicing. It made me feel closer to him in a way."

"I also hated all the things they wanted me to do in the girls' home. It's all fine stuff I guess, but it never felt very important to me. I could mend holes in clothes already and fix food over an open flame on a hunt. Why did I need to learn fancier ways to do simple tasks?"

"Yeah. I get that. I suspect, though, that Tunny is used to those fancy things."

"Probably. I don't really have much thought for Tunny one way or another at this point, though if it comes to it, I learned enough there to fake it as a doting housewife. If he pursues me, though, he will learn quickly enough that I'm not going to be that kind of woman. Ever.

Anyway, I hated all that stuff, so I used my free time to practice my marksmanship. It helped me get away from all the things I was being forced into since my father was gone."

Tiernan seemed a bit confused. "It doesn't seem like a place like that would be very open to you practicing your shooting."

"It wasn't. But, they couldn't deny me the right to keep the few things I had from him, and there were plenty of places around for practicing away from the home. Eventually, I got really good. I started entering competitions then winning my fair share. Now, in the army, I can practice with all my free time, and I use it. I'm saving up all my money to get myself away from here. After we kill that thing, of course."

She saw a shiver run through Tiernan at the mention of the monster. "Have you seen it then?"

"Yeah." Tiernan told her. "I was there when Major Druse encountered it the first time. A friend of mine lost his hand."

"I heard about that. Sorry."

"He's doing better now, I think. It was rough on him for a while though."

"You said I was the best you'd seen since your teacher. Who's your teacher then?"

Tiernan thought back to the man who had taught him so much. "My teacher is, I mean was, Narlix. Maybe you've heard of him?"

"Heard of him? He's incredible! My father took me to see one of his performances when I was little. He taught you??? That's amazing! What was it like?"

So, he told her. They talked about training, technique, fletching, hunting, and performance. He even told her with an embarrassed grin about grazing Cleal's cheek with an arrow in his test.

"And she's still willing to marry you?" She asked in mock incredulity. "She sounds very brave," she said, laughing at her own joke.

"Yes. She must be. She's also kind, patient, talented, beautiful, generous, and she doesn't seem to care about the lack of height I got from my halfing mother." He laughed. Then, he went on to tell her about what it was like growing up together on Lord Marol's estate before learning the Yuke and learning to shoot.

"You must be pretty good yourself. One of these days, we'll have to pit our skills against one another." She joked.

"Any time. I haven't had any real competition for ages."

"Oh, you're so humble too. No wonder this girl is head over heels for you. She must really like hearing you talk about yourself in such a level-headed manner." She laughed again.

"I try to be honest. I didn't say I was the best, but I know that I'm good, and I know that I worked very hard to become so. It's easy to underestimate someone my size. If I'm not a bit boisterous, I tend to get ignored completely. You can't be successful being ignored.

Narlix taught me that. He never just talked to me about shooting. He never wanted me to love the skill without recognizing how to utilize it to better my life and my mother's life. Like I said before, we were in pretty dire straits before he started teaching. My playing had money coming in, but it wasn't any sort of stable future. So, I try to honor his legacy by being honest about what he taught me. I'm proud to have been his student, and I try to display that when I talk about him and what he did for me.

He continued. "I don't know how good I really am because I rarely meet anyone who has put in the same kind of time. Maybe, anyone with my level of training would be as good, but I don't know anyone like that. At least, until now, going by what you've told me."

"I think it's settled then. We've got to find out who's better." She challenged.

"I'm game. When?"

"There're two birds in that apple tree up ahead. You want the one on the left or the one on the right?"

"Well, lady's choice."

"Okay. I'll take left. You take right."

To this point, they'd been somewhat in their own world, but then the merchant spoke up from the wagon. "On my count of three then."

They were both briefly startled, but they nodded. They stopped, and prepped arrows. Then, the merchant counted in a low voice. "One, Two, Three." Both of them loosed at almost the same time. Both birds fell. Only the fletching told the tale. Alika's arrow went straight through the breast of her bird, and Tiernan's bird had an arrow in the neck.

"Well, what does that tell us?" The merchant asked jovially.

Tiernan was the first to respond. "It tells me that Alika doesn't usually have to shoot with the intention of selling her quarry." He laughed.

Alika wasn't to be outdone. "It tells me Tiernan would rather take a riskier shot for the sake of money." She was laughing as well.

The merchant saw all of this as a chance for putting coin into his own pocket. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we make this all something more official when I get back to SeaCray? I think this is the kind of thing other people would like to see."

Tiernan asked. "Do we at least get to know your name?"

The merchant smiled. "Of course, I'm Bardon. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I hope you don't mind me being so bold, but with your talents, maybe there's some money to be made."

"What's in it for us?" Alika asked the question that both she and Tiernan were thinking.

"Well, I'll cover promotion and preparation. I'll get a crowd there and sell them on the spectacle. All you have to do is be ready to shoot. What do you say each of you get 20% of the take, and the other 60% is mine?"

"As long as there are no up front costs for us, that seems fair." Tiernan was getting excited about the prospect. Alika also nodded her head in agreement. By the time they met the EverBright soldiers to pass the wagons off, the terms were settled, and the merchant was already scheming ways to make the competition a true spectacle.

_________

Preparations were weeks in the making. Bardon had every intention of keeping up his end of the bargain. Luckily for him, SeaCray had a large pavilion that was used as a live animal market and auction site several times a week but was often empty. It was owned by the town, and SeaCray's mayor was perfectly willing to offer the location to Bardon for 5% of his profits. He didn't consider this too big a hit as he had expected to give 10%.

Usually the pavilion was ringed with bleachers so as many bidders as possible could fit around. In reality, it was rarely full. For the sake of the competition, Bardon commissioned risers to be built behind one half of the Bleachers. On those, they would place more bleachers to increase capacity.

On the other side, Bardon purchased a huge cloth tarpaulin that was stretched across the bleachers. He commissioned a local painter to write across it in huge bold letters: BARDON'S EXTRAVAGANZA! He figured this way, no matter what entertainments he offered at any given time, they could all be encompassed by this one sign.

Captain Wemel was also accommodating. Most of the equipment needed was donated in exchange for an opportunity for Captain Wemel to do some recruiting. Bardon slotted the Captain's pitch into the sequence of events right after the welcome speech. Bardon himself, of course, would act as Master of Ceremonies, making sure everyone there knew who had provided the entertainment. Bardon had never seen himself as simply a grain merchant, and he had long been looking for opportunities to elevate his profile. He had been saving the extra money he earned through the frequent trips through the woods for a chance just like this.

LIfe for Tiernan and Alika had been much the same throughout this time though. They stuck close to the installation, practicing shooting when they weren't on duty. Leading wagons and caravans of various sizes when it was their turn.

Captain Wemel, it turned out, was a bit of a showman himself. Since he first learned of the impending competition, he had completely separated the competitors so that they never had duty together. This meant that after that first long conversation together, they had barely spoken to each other. Their schedules also made sure that they weren't practicing at the same time. It didn't escape Tiernan's notice that Alika was a hometown favorite at time. Whereas she was always given preferential practice times, he was relegated to waxing and waning light conditions and opportunities that butted right up against his duties, so he never got quite into the comfortable practice rhythm he would have liked.

The EverBright soldiers, also, all seemed to always be busy when Alika was practicing. There was no opportunity for them to watch how she was preparing. Conversely, Tiernan assumed his onlookers were all reporting to her what he was doing. Why wouldn't they? They were from SeaCray, and she was the hero here. None of this bothered him much though. One of Narlix's constant lessons was on how to make the shot amidst distraction, and that's all this one. It was distraction on a grander scale than he'd ever faced before, but it was still just distraction.

When he did see Alika, she was almost always in the company of Tunny. It wasn't clear from her behavior how his amorous attentions were being received, but she never looked annoyed, so he assumed it was going as Tunny planned. This was the best part of the situation as far as Tiernan was concerned. Sure, he wanted to win the competition, but he was getting paid regardless. More important to him was having Tunny forget all about Cleal, and so far, that seemed to be what was happening. Then, two days before the competition, Tunny cornered him alone and marched him behind the barracks.

"Listen to me, you cur. You will do nothing to screw up what I've got going with Alika, and that includes winning this competition." Tunny said this as he shoved him against the barrack wall.

"Are you telling me to throw the match?" Tiernan was surprised that even Tunny would stoop so low.

"I'm not telling you anything of the sort. I'm just encouraging you to remember that winning isn't everything. You don't need this win. You're a week away from being back in EverBright, and if everything goes right, you'll be going without me. If things don't go well, I'll make sure you remember we had this talk every day we're together from here until your duties are ended. Got it?" Tunny stabbed his finger into Tiernan's sternum.

"I got it. I'm not a cheat though. I'll do my best. I'm sure she'll do hers. I don't know why you assume she's so fragile. Haven't you learned anything about her at all with all the time you've been spending together?" Tiernan pushed his hand away and started to leave when Tunny grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face him once more.

"I'm getting to know her plenty. I just know she needs this. She hasn't had many wins in her life and none beyond her shooting ability. Don't you know that the most fragile people are usually those who pretend everything is fine?" Tunny let him go after getting in the last word.

Tiernan found his bunk and sat with his head in his hands. He owed Tunny nothing. He owed Alika nothing. However, regardless of these minor annoyances, his life was pretty good. He knew he was a week from going home to a woman he'd thought of marrying for years who was currently planning her wedding, to a business that was going better than ever, to the imminent return of his mother and Meister Ryland who were hopefully bringing a clue to defeating the thing in the woods.

He thought then of Alika. He thought of her being alone, of her making a fragile, tenuous connection with Tunny that Tunny was just trying to foster into growth. He rejected the sentiment though. He didn't believe that she was as apt to give up on everything else in her life if she lost this competition. He was convinced that she would be much more hurt by the disrespect of him not giving his all.

He heard the door open and looked up to see Wallen poke his head in. "It's about time to go. You ready?" With that, Tiernan pulled himself out of his own head and went back on duty. This was his last run until after the competition, and he only had four more after that before returning home.They had all been quiet, and he was grateful for that.

He spent the following day completely in practice. Alika was on duty all day. This gave everyone plausible deniability if anyone accused them of favoritism. Widdershins was with the whole day, retrieving arrows and generally helping out. "I think you got this." He told Tiernan as they were ending the day.

"What makes you think that? Do you know anything about what she's been doing? Do you know anything about what sort of things will be asked of us once we get into the competition?" Tiernan was stressed, and it showed in his response.

"Well, no. I just can tell how focused you are, and I don't think I've ever seen you this prepared. I've known you a long time, and I can see you're just in a different place mentally. You're ready. It's almost scary how in sync you are with your weapon right now. Do you realize that you have only missed two targets all day regardless of distance? Have you ever shot like that before?"

Tiernan nodded. "Maybe not. Maybe you're right. I am ready."

_____

The night of the competition came with all the fanfare Bardon has promised and more. The bleachers were filled. There were vendors selling food up and down them. The market stall all around had done a brisk trade throughout the afternoon as the crowd had created a larger-than-normal group of shoppers.

The competition itself began an hour before dusk. There was still plenty of light, but it was clear that shadow was part of Bardon's planned difficulties. Standing in front of the large tarpaulin, Bardon raised his arms to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" His voice boomed as the crowd quieted. "WELCOME TO BARDON'S EXTRAVAGANZA!" The crowd roared approval until Bardon made a hushing gesture with his arms. "This inaugural event is only the beginning of the great things I have in store for the city of SeaCray!" This met with another round of applause. Finally, Bardon introduced Captain Wemel. "This night's shooting competition wouldn't be possible without the cooperation of Captain Wemel. Let's give him a warm welcome as he says a few words before we begin!"

As the Captain entreated the crowd with all the benefits of military service, Bardon checked on his participants. "Are you two ready?" They each nodded but didn't speak. "Okay. Wait here until I call you." They nodded again and Bardon turned and went back to waiting just behind Wemel as he finished his pitch.

"Good luck." Tiernan said.

"You too." Alika was clearly nervous. "Listen, you won't have to worry about Tunny after tonight."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tiernan was confused.

"He's invited me to go to Malinet to meet his parents. If they approve, we'll start an official courting. I'll stay with another family in the capital, and he'll be reassigned during that time."

"Is that it? Is he using you as a ticket home?"

"I don't know. I do know that nobility gets special privileges when it comes to military service. Apparently one of those is the right to be reassigned near your family when you've begun an official courting because the crown wants to keep the bloodlines going. At least only one of the two has to be noble for it to count. I wanted out anyway. This is a quick ticket."

"Will you be reassigned too?" Tiernan was trying to wrap his head around military rules at this point.

"No. I'll be excused from duty. Since I was a volunteer and not a conscript, it was easily done." Alika faltered a bit, and Tiernan thought he knew why.

"Does this mean a return to all the sorts of duties you hated at the girls' home?"

She sighed. "I suppose it does, but I made it clear that I wasn't going to give up everything I loved regardless, and he was fine with that."

"For now," Tiernan shook his head. "I hope he sticks to the agreement."

"He will." She said with certainty. "I made it clear that I would simply come back if he tried to strongarm me into being someone I'm not."

The conversation was cut short then as Bardon called them to stand on either side of him. "Seacray's very own Alika." The crowd cheered uproariously. "will compete against Tiernan of EverBright." Boos rained down on Tiernan and he simply smiled. "There will be 5 challenges, and the winner of the most of them will be crowned champion!" More applause.

"First up, a distance competition. Each participant will shoot three arrows at a target. Each arrow will be shot from a distance farther than the previous one. The contestant with the tightest spread of shots relative to the bullseye will be the winner. Remember, the winner of each round will get to choose whether they shoot first or second in the next!"

The contestants glanced at each other. They both recognized the sort of advantage that choosing when to shoot could hold depending on the challenge.

The first shot was already quite a distance from the target, and each of the other two were twenty paces farther back. Tiernan shot first. His strategy was to shoot the first arrow at the top of the bullseye and work his way to the center then the bottom with successive shots. It worked perfectly. One, two, three. The arrows stuck in the bullseye in a vertical line.

Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough. Alika stuck all three of her arrows together right in the center of the bullseye. Tiernan had counted on her trying this, but hoped that at least one would bounce off and not stick because of her shot selection. It was also the thing he had been concerned about when planning his strategy.

"After the first event, your leader is ALIKA!" Bardon whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Next, contestants will compete against targets that are harder to see." Two assistants brought forward two targets that were the color of the dirt and straw of the pavilion floor. The rings and bullseyes were only slightly different colors than the rest of the target. After showing them to the crowd, they were placed in each participant's lane at the last challenge's middle distance. "One shot! Closest to the center wins! They will shoot simultaneously when I drop my hands." So much for Alika's advantage from winning round one. Tiernan could see that Alika wasn't pleased, but what could either of them do?

Tiernan stilled his breathing and aimed. In her lane, Alika did the same, masking her frustration and replacing it with calm. When Bardon dropped his arm, he loosed his arrow with confidence, and he heard Alika do the same to his right.

The assistants retrieved the small targets and brought them to Bardon. Alika's arrow was on the edge of the bullseye, and Tiernan's was dead center. "Round two's winner is Tiernan!" There was a smattering of applause amongst the booing because the hunters in the audience recognized the difficulty of that shot.

"For round 3, ladies and gentlemen, take a look at the top of the bleachers." Bardon spread his arms, one at a time, to either side of the pavilion, and Tiernan thought that the man had a knack for showmanship. The crowd and contestants looked up to see a man on either side holding a thin round target attached to a rope. The ropes were strung to large metal rings attached to a small pole tied perpendicular to a large pole that had been sunk into the ground for the purpose.

"When these are released, they will swing back and forth, passing across one another until eventually resting to a stop in front of one another. The contestants each get a single shot. They must shoot before the targets stop moving. Each target has numbers written on it. The shooter who hits the highest number wins. Notice! The target to your left will be swinging behind the target on the right. Therefore, hitting that target will be deemed superior and its numbers are higher than the one in front!"

A single shot? Tiernan thought it was ridiculous. However, since he won the last round, he knew he could choose to go second. Of course, the target that Alika hit wouldn't swing as true after having a hole punched into it, but he thought the advantage of watching her go first was worth the risk.

Bardon looked at Tiernan expectantly, and with a little bow and flourish, Tiernan said, "Ladies first." The crowd roared as Alika stepped into a shooting circle that had been marked on the ground, the previous lanes they had used not being suited for this kind of shot.

As she prepared herself for the shot, the crowd quieted and Bardon signaled for the targets to be released. They fell and rose, fell and rose, in ever diminishing arcs. Three, four, five times. On the sixth upswing, Alika shot her arrow to the left of center and stuck in the target that had started on that side. It wiggled and wobbled and banged into the other target on its descent, arresting the motion of both enough that they could be stopped by hand.

Bardon went to inspect the target, untied it from the rope and held it aloft to the crowd. The arrow had gone nearly through the target and was hanging limply out the back, its fletching keeping it in place. "12! The highest number on target!" The crowd let their excitement be heard. Alika was glowing in the adulation, clearly pleased with her performance. "Now, in the case of a tie, should Tiernan also get 12, they will each shoot a second arrow to determine the winner."

The crowd clapped again, but they were clearly not interested in a tie. Well, Tiernan wasn't either. He had been formulating a plan since he saw Alika's shot. The only thing that could screw it up would be what her arrow had done to the target she hit.

It turned out not to be a concern. When the targets were returned to the top of the bleachers for Tiernan's shot, the one Alika had hit was replaced with another just like it. Tiernan had underestimated how fair Bardon was going to make this, but Bardon's forethought about the whole competition had been impressive so far, so Tiernan realized this shouldn't have been a surprise.

Tiernan entered the circle and readied himself to shoot. The men holding the targets released them and immediately, Tiernan began to find the rhythm and follow it. He leaned on his skills as a musician here as much as his hunting. He learned long ago that the rhythms that he'd learned to hold helped him while he was tracking prey when hunting. Movement and music both relied on natural rhythms when not being deliberately changed, and the targets fell into a steady rhythm even as their arcs gradually shortened.

He watched them pass, but he waited. When Alika had shot after the 6th pass, both targets still had plenty of length left in their swings, so he knew he could be patient. Six, seven, eight passes. His aim was dead center. As pass 9 made its way though, he leaned into his experience and reflex and loosed.

Even the crowd that was against him couldn't keep their composure. Their cheers were a great swell as they saw that his shot went straight through the first target and buried itself into the second as well. Bardon was speechless. Alika smirked and nodded, knowing she'd lost.

When Bardon retrieved the targets, Tiernan arrow had gone straight through the center of the first for "10" and into the right edge of the second for "5." He raised the targets aloft, held together loosely by Tiernan arrow. He shouted, "Fifteen!" The crowd cheered louder. The tide was clearly turning, and Tiernan was at least being appreciated and no longer villainized by the residents that were still clearly rooting for Alika.

When the cheers subsided, Bardon spoke again. "Tiernan now leads two to one. Round 4 requires some special participants!" At this, Widdershins and Tunny were led to the center of the pavilion.

They walked together to meet Tiernan and Alika, both of whom guessed what was coming next.

"What are you doing here?" Alika was clearly shocked to see Tunny.

Tunny was respectful and quiet. "I just wanted you to see that I trust you. I've seen what you can do. I watched you practice with Wallen for weeks in case this happened. If I'm going to court you, I ought to be willing to trust you in something as small as this."

"You're crazy!" Alika was clearly annoyed. "The practice with Wallen was deliberate. I know he won't flinch. I'm used to his stance and his height. I was ready for this with him. With you? How am I supposed to do this? You're crazy!"

Tunny raised his hands to try and placate her. "I trust you. You can do this."

Alika just huffed and walked away, Tunny following her, still talking.

"Leave it to Tunny to choose something as stupid as this as a grand romantic gesture." Widdershins laughed, but Tiernan remembered a test he had taken, a girl who had kissed him for the first time, and a thin, nearly imperceptible scar at the top of her cheek and kept his mouth shut.

"What about you?" Tiernan said. "We haven't practiced this. Do you think it's safe?"

"Tier, I've seen you shoot for years. If I had any doubt, I wouldn't be here. Plus, they're going to tie our hands, so I won't flinch."

"Okay then. I'll do my best not to hit you."

"Especially in the face! I've got a woman back in EverBright I'm trying to impress!"

Tiernan laughed. "Don't you think a real manly scar might impress her?"

"I think I don't want to impress her with just my looks. She would be completely bowled over if I had such a scar to add to my winning charm. It'd be too easy then. Also, I don't really like pain, so keep those arrows well away."

"I'll do my best."

Bardon was calling Widdershins and Tunny to him then, and had his assistants begin tying them to targets that had been brought out for the occasion. They had clearly been painted with the men tied to them previously because they fit perfectly against the outlines. Each outline was surrounded by a variety of numbers, larger nearer to the outline and smaller further away. Bardon was explaining the rules as they were being tied down, and Tiernan was noticing how the light began to wane.

"Each contestant gets three shots! Highest total wins!" He then turned to Tiernan, "Would you go first or second?"

Tiernan could see that Alika was still trying to calm herself after Tunny's "surprise." He chose compassion. "I will shoot first."

In the back of his mind, he kept replaying his test and thinking about Cleal's scar. He knew he was ahead, and he didn't want to take any chances with his friend.

His first shot, he aimed at an "8" near Widdershins left side. It went wide though, and he had to settle for a "6." He realized then that he would have to be riskier with the next two shots.

The second shot, he hit an "8" dead center between Widdershins thighs."

Widdershins quipped loudly for the crowd then. "Hey, now! I want to be a father someday!" The crowd laughed and clapped in response.

"You'd better hold still then." Tiernan's retort got another laugh from the crowd. Widdershins nodded, closed his lips tightly then, and held his position without the slightest movement.

Tiernan's third arrow flew almost immediately and buried itself in the center of a "10" right next to Widdershin's ear.

The crowd roared, and Bardon exclaimed, "Twenty Four!"

Watching Tiernan's performance had clearly helped Alika settle herself. She was suddenly the cold methodical shooter they had first met nearly two months ago at the camp's practice range. It was, aim, breathe, shoot, just like that, three times in a row. She hit the "10" on both sides of Tunny's head and the 10 between his legs, just a bit higher than the "8" Tiernan had hit."

"A PERFECT 30!!!" The crowd loved it. Bardon loved it. Tiernan clapped for her as well. Tunny loved it, pasting a huge grin on his face. Widdershins laughed and shook his head, arms still bound and unable to clap.

"So, it comes down to this! Challenge number five!" Bardon had whipped the crowd into a frenzy. "Bring out the final targets!"

It was getting noticeably darker now. Dusk was taking over the day. If this didn't end quickly, they would be shooting in the dark. Tiernan couldn't help but notice the conditions were quite similar to those he had been forced to practice in for the past several weeks, and he knew that the practice would favor him.

"In this final competition, contestants will be given special arrows!" As Bardon began to explain, Tunny and Widdershins were being directed out of the pavilion. Tunny stared intently at Tiernan as he left, and mouthed the word, "Remember."

Tiernan shook it off though. He didn't have time to worry about Tunny's threats. He was focused and ready for the challenge ahead.

Bardon continued. "Each arrow will be fitted at the end with cloth soaked in alcohol. Each contestant gets one opportunity to shoot through a flame, igniting their arrow and sending their target up in fire!" The crowd roared. They will again shoot at the same time because the winner will be one whose target is in flames first. Trust me, you will know who has won when it happens!"

Tiernan thought about this and took time to consider how he would have to adjust his angle to account for the extra weight at the end. He had practiced with arrowheads of varying sizes, learning to aim to meet the needs of heavier and lighter weights, and he hoped that experience would get him through this particular challenge.

The crowd was hushed. They weren't sure what to expect. From their vantage point, they couldn't see the small wick threaded through each target in the center of each bullseye.

Set in front of each target, there were 3 stands. Each stand held an oil lamp sporting a sizable flame. They made a direct line between the shooters and the targets. Tiernan appreciated the redundancy. He wasn't at all sure how well the arrows would catch flame. At least this gave them three chances.

"Shooters ready!" As Bardon prepared them for the final shot, Tiernan noticed a few things. The sun was now barely visible over the horizon and the oil lamps were quickly becoming the most prominent light. As their flames danced in the light breeze, shadows writhed and undulated at the edges of his vision as he focused on the target. Glancing at Alika, he saw that she was squinting noticeably, and he was sure that the lighting was bothering her more than it was him.

The crowd was silent. They were all emotionally invested now, leaning in, desperate for the tensions to see and the conclusion to become clear. They didn't have to wait long.

Bardon's arms fell, and both shooters released their arrows. Tiernan only had eyes for his own target. It turned out that he didn't need to worry about the arrow lighting.

The alcohol soaked cloth burst into flame as it passed through the first lamp and thudded directly into the center of the target. Moments later, the target's center began to sizzle and pop before suddenly exploding into a burst of fireworks that wowed and amazed the whole crowd.

Tiernan looked over to Alika's target, expecting to see a similar display. Instead, he only saw a burning arrow sticking out of the target, right of center. There would be no explosion. It was clear that the lower visibility had hampered Alika's shot by just enough to keep her from hitting the bullseye. She looked obviously crestfallen, but when she saw Tiernan looking at her, she stood up straight and came over to congratulate the winner.

"Well done. I should have taken some of your practice times in lower visibility. Oh well." She gently grabbed his arm just below the shoulder. "I've never competed with anyone as good as you."

"I feel the same way. Your skills are remarkable." He felt her grabbing his hand then and lifting in in triumph. The crowd roared. Tunny and Widdershins came back out to them then.

"That was amazing!" Widdershins embraced his friend. "Wait'll we tell the people back home! We'll have to have Bardon bring this act to EverBright. The people will go nuts!"

"You're going to have to find some different competition then." Tunny interrupted. "You will be transporting Alika and me back to EverBright tomorrow where we will leave for Malinet before the week is out. You two will get back home a few days early, but I fully intend to reward you for this before I leave."

Tiernan was sure he wouldn't like the reward Tunny had in mind, but he was just as sure that it would be an order, so his preferences wouldn't matter anyway.

Alika chimed in. "He did wonderfully! Don't take that away from him. You haven't lost anything tonight. In fact, your willingness to be my target may have helped your cause."

Tunny grinned at this and walked away with Alika, arm in arm.

_______

Then next morning, Tunny made a great show of riding in the wagon beside Alika since neither of them were expected to march. Their courtship rights began in earnest that morning, and he took full advantage of all they entailed. He did allow Clockwise and Widdershins ample time to pack and prepare before departure though. Since this trip was military only, it did not need to follow the regular schedule. This meant, when they got to the scene of the massacre, most of the damage was already done.

That morning's caravan, consisting of a single wagon, had been set upon by the creature. The wagon was toppled and smashed. The soldiers on duty, and the people in the wagon lay on the ground, dead.

This wasn't the same sort of carnage Tiernan and Widdershins had seen that day with Major Druse. That day, the victims had been subsumed, disappearing beneath the waves of that dark mass.

This was altogether different. The bodies were strewn about. They were broken and partially consumed. It looked like they had been set upon by a swarm of smaller predators. The residual smears of black goo made their assailant unmistakeable though.

The soldiers on the ground readied their weapons and fanned out to survey the scene. Then, in the woods, a short distance from the road, they heard a scream. They saw Wallen then, very much alive, set upon by several small black creatures, rending and tearing at the flesh of his leg.

Tiernen did not hesitate. He shot an arrow straight into the head of one squirrel-shaped monstrosity. The arrow passed through. The creature knitted itself back together and continued its attack, unaffected.

Moments later, a fiery arrow shot past Tiernan and into the same creature. This time, though, it burst alight and let out a tiny yet horrendous screech. The other creatures, shaped like rabbits or squirrels or small lizards jumped at the sounds and ran far faster than anyone had time to prepare another fiery dart.

Only Wallen's soft moans of agony broke the silence in the woods then. Tiernan came to his side and saw black tendrils working their way up his ruined leg. He quickly grabbed a handkerchief he kept in his pocket. He tied it around the leg just below the knee, grabbed a stick from the ground, and placing it between the leg and handkerchief, he began to twist. He twisted and twisted, tighter and tighter until he could see that the movement of tendrils was stopped.

Tunny's years in the service came in handy now and proved that he was more than just an egotistical blowhard. Wallen had passed out from the pain, which was great for him because he was better off not remembering what came next.

Tunny unceremoniously used a large knife to remove Wallen's leg after starting a fire to heat the blade. He cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding and put Wallen in the wagon. There was nothing to be done for anyone else unfortunately.

The group had not yet made the rendezvous point before the attack. Tiernan and company found the EverBright group waiting in the clearing when they got there. It happened that Major Druse was leading this particular run, and Tunny hopped down from the wagon to salute him.

"Major." Tunny's salute was crisp, perfect.

"Sergeant," Major Druse returned the salute mid-sentence, "I didn't realize you were coming back with the morning transport."

"I wasn't, sir." Tunny's reply was somber. "The morning transport was attacked. We found them after they'd been hit on our way to EverBright. It was a massacre, sir. We have a soldier from SeaCray named Wallen in the back of the wagon. He was the only survivor, and he only survived because we removed his leg."

The Major stopped him there. "Why don't you tell me what happened from the beginning? Try not to leave out any details."

"No, Sir. I won't." Tunny proceeded to tell him everything that had happened on the morning trek, explaining how they had come upon the scene and what they saw. "It was horrific, sir, but we did learn something that may have been helpful."

"Yes?"

"Yes, Sir." When we heard Wallen screaming, we went to him and saw that the beast can shape parts of itself into simulacrums of small woodland creatures and hunt that way.

"Yes. You said that already."

"Yes, Sir. Well, when Tiernan shot one that was attacking Wallen, his arrow went straight through, but Alika shot it next with a fire arrow and..."

"Fire arrow?" Major Druse interrupted.

"Yes, Sir. The tip of the arrow had been wrapped in cloth, dipped into alcohol and set on fire.

"Ah. Go on."

"Yes, Sir. When the arrow struck the thing it screamed, burst into flame, writhed like molten goo, and disintegrated after a few moments, Sir."

"Now, that is good news. The next question is can we use enough fire to take care of it without burning down the whole forest?" Major Druse had already moved into planning mode as he thought through the implications of this information. He was a strategist first and foremost, and planning was always at the front of his mind.

"Well, Tunny. I had hoped to send you along to Malinet with simple congratulations. Unfortunately, this news put a damper on that. Either way, I will go to the site, clean it up, and return the remains, such as they are, to SeaCray and bring my group back tonight. I want you, all of you, to make a full report to Mayor Linkston before doing anything else. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir. Alright, you've heard him. Move out!."

"Tunny, one more thing."

"Yes, Sir?"

"Let everyone tell the mayor what they saw. She needs all the details she can get. We wouldn't want one explanation telling the whole story since it would inevitably leave things out because no one can remember everything."

Tunny knew he was being reprimanded, but his "Yes, Sir." was as crisp and sincere as it had ever been. With that, Tunny rejoined Alika in the wagon and started off again.

It was probably best for everyone that Tiernan and Widdershins were behind the wagon because both of them were struggling to repress the smiles on their faces.

The march continued on for a few hours until they made it to EverBright. They didn't stop until they got to the Mayor's office and, as instructed, they went in to tell their story to Mayor Linkston.

When they had finished retelling their tales to the Mayor and her aide had taken down pertinent notes, she addressed the group.

"Sergeant Tunny, I hear congratulations are in order, and to you too, Alika."

"Thank you," they both said at once.

"Since you will be leaving in only a few days, you aren't needed further here. Take these soldiers with you and get Private Wallen to the infirmary. I will keep Tiernan and Widdershins with me for a while."

"Yes, Mayor." Tunny led the others out, glaring as he went, clearly annoyed at what felt like being left out.

"Now, you two. I have a job for the two of you."

Tiernan and Widdershins both stood up a bit straighter, taking pride in being chosen by the Mayor for a special assignment.

"Your official military days are over. You see, as an elected official, I only have as much power as the people who put me here give me. As such, I can only do so much to affect what they choose to do. Do you understand?"

Neither of the men was entirely sure what she was getting at, so they didn't respond.

"No, of course you don't, but that's okay. Let me put it to you simply. Citizens with money and land have more power than even I do when they get it into their minds to do something. Some of these citizens have decided that Major Druse and his soldiers are dragging their feet on this whole business with the beast in the woods.

They have decided that they will fare better on their own, so they are gathering a group of able-bodied, like-minded men of similar status to form a vigilante group intent on hunting and killing the thing. I've been trying to put them off for weeks, but they are refusing. The only compromise they made was to allow me to appoint them guides, so they had some semblance of military presence that is familiar with the thing. You two are those guides. You leave to hunt the beast in two days.