Shadowbane

"Two thousand pounds worth of Lapis crystals." Jasper said.

"... I knew you'd want a lot for it, but my god."

"He's going easy on you Rei, and you know it." Hera cut-in.

She's right, I won't deny it, and I was even prepared for a ridiculous number like that. However, thinking about it and actually hearing the amount are completely different.

"Is monster hunting or investigations still a thing? Even Xelba had a board that would pay out to anyone who could solve issues plaguing the area. Veterans like me made a lot of money doing monster hunts, but my personal favorites were the ones where I had to discern what was responsible and find it. Those also paid the best since most people didn't want to do them. People generally preferred the easy 'kill this or that' missions."

"They do exist. If you're planning on paying me through those, it's going to take quite awhile." Jasper replied.

"Well if you were hoping I was going to dump two thousand pounds of Lapis crystals onto your lap in the next few days, you're clearly out of your mind. When I talked about stealing to pay before, that was back when this was a simple high-quality mana weave. A hundred crystals could be lost for any number of reasons, but if I go out there and steal thousands?"

"You have a point. It's just that there are certain circumstances on my end that won't allow it to take years." Jasper glances at Godwin, who has been eating while listening to the negotiations.

"You can tell her. If there was no reason to, I wouldn't allow it. In this case though, it's best she knows." Godwin said.

"Tell her what?" Hera said, looking confused.

Jasper leaned in, whispering, "We're leaving through the northern portal. Hera doesn't know yet, because we know she wouldn't want to abandon Urza. Don't tell her please, but also know this means I would need to be paid in the next couple of months."

Well shit, that's nowhere near enough time... Wait.

"What about a prismatic?"

"Surely you jest?"

"No, I mean it... Kind of. Xelba is destroyed now, but I know there is a prismatic there. The owner was killed during the siege, so I know it is still there somewhere inside the rubble. I'll need to uh, acquire, an ability that will help me dig through the city though. After that I can run there while staying invisible the entire way thanks to Xelba being buried in darkness right now."

"And how do you plan on acquiring such an ability? While your 'television' was impressive, learning new abilities and magically having them be exactly what you need in less than a month, is absolutely impossible."

"Normally yes. I get abilities in a different way though. No I won't say how, I've revealed enough as is."

"That's fair, and if you think it can be done, then by all means let's complete the deal with that. A prismatic huh... I'd actually owe you something to even it out."

We shook hands, ending the negotiations.

Speaking of abilities, that Janet girl's bombs had drained twenty percent of her soul and almost half my mana with each one I created. The power was worth it though, that's for sure. But only having three left is rather disappointing... I'll need to make sure to save them for emergencies.

"By the way, I know we're leaving but I think it's worth mentioning, I don't think that Eldritch was responsible for your missing scouts."

"Yeah... We reached the same conclusion. There's nothing we can do at this point though. Preserving the life of the remaining citizens comes above all else. Knowing Father, he wants to stay and discover what was responsible, but let me cut you off there, you know we don't have time for that." Jasper replied.

"I know that already boy. I also know that the damned wall wasn't brought down by that Eldritch either. It was most likely The Tengu hoping the Eldritch would attack us. The scouts... Something else was responsible for killing the scouts, I can feel it."

I'd love to look into it if I had the time. There is nothing I enjoy more than investigating mysteries like that. Although, I do kind of lose interest when I discover what was responsible, but I always finish the job regardless of my feelings on the matter.

"Oh right, Markus, did the Templars know this was artifact armor? You reset me with the armor still attached after all."

Markus put down his fork, "Yes, it was known to us the moment we entered the Dawn Realm together. There was a moment of surprise as we were all made aware that we had an observer watching us, but we knew you were not hostile. For starters, Arkaios would have wrapped you in chains and left you to be purged by us next. Also, he diverted some of his lent power to your armor while letting us know you were to assist us, despite not having asked you yet. Our god was certain you'd accept his offer to purge the Demon. Hearing your story, I understand why he believed so."

I feel bad interrupting his meal, but these people are taking way too long to eat. I devoured both the meat and the stew almost instantly. Although, that's probably because I was starving for so damn long.

After Markus finished his meal, he stood up to address the room, "We will be leaving twelve hours from now. The Kitsune had barely unpacked so it won't take them long to prepare for a return trip to Thule. Will you be staying in Thule, Godwin? Or continuing on to Viseux with the rest of us?"

"We're also going to Viseux. Returning Lady Aresa safe and sound was part of our orders."

"I thought as much. In that case, be sure to stock up in Thule. After a Tengu Lord was locked down we had to leave in a hurry, as per usual for such a mission. However, we've never been stuck afterwards in an area that is limited in rations and in a situation where they also must flee. Not to make this sound worse, but the supply caravan that was sent out after us has not checked in yet."

"How late are they?" Godwin said.

"Three hours."

Jasper sighed, "Wonderful. There is a one hundred percent chance those supplies will not be arriving. Also, I hope none of you are considering raiding Kikyou now that its residents are gone. With the amount of time that has passed since the sacrifice, that entire village has to be swarming with monsters."

"That was never part of the plan. Unfortunately, I have no alternatives to offer up. All we can do is make haste towards Thule. Another supply caravan will be heading out tomorrow which should have a much stronger entourage. Unless something goes terribly wrong, they will meet us around the halfway point." Markus said.

With the conversation reaching an end point, everyone stood up, filing into the rooms in the back to wash up and rest.

Hera watched as they dragged the prisoners along towards one of the rooms, then turned to me. "Where are you going to sleep?"

Hmm... My plan was to sleep on the roof, but it's obvious that she doesn't want to sleep alone right now.

"Wherever you're heading."

As I thought, that seemed to brighten her up a little.

I follow after her as she heads towards a room nobody else entered. Once inside, I see a surprisingly small room with only four beds.

"Uhh... I saw at least ten or more men entering each room. Are they sleeping shoulder to shoulder on the floor?"

Hera laughed, "No no, they have rooms of all sizes here. The temples here were the blueprint for the ones in Viseux, they house travelers of the Templars, Guard, or the Inquisitors."

Inquisitors huh? I never understood why the mercenaries in Xelba were called that. They must've ripped the name off from Viseux. No idea why, but who knows what any of those people were thinking.

As I sit down on the bed in the back left corner of the room, Hera sits down next to me.

"... You planning to seduce me? This dress must look better on me than I thought."

Hera rolls her eyes, laying down with her back to me.

"I haven't slept while visible in... I don't even remember the last time. So if you wake up to find me gone, I'm probably still here." I said, laying next to her on my back.

"You can use abilities while sleeping?"

"The aura is a little different from how abilities work. Anyways, goodnight Hera."

"Yeah... Goodnight."

I was getting ready to turn my core off when Hera spoke up again.

"... Mom died when I was very young. Dad kept talking about her like she was still there, while Jasper closed himself off completely. Being the daughter of the Guardians founder made it so nobody wanted to approach me, not that I made it any easier for them. But Nisha... She didn't care at all. When she befriended me my whole world opened up, and she's also why I decided to join the Guardians despite my Father's constant whining that I should stay home."

Hera went silent for awhile, to the point I began to wonder if she fell asleep, but then she continued talking. "We were best friends, I treated her like a sister. I don't understand... Why wouldn't she tell me anything? I would have helped her if she asked. I'm sure Father would have helped them out too, maybe even gave them a simple cushy job in the Guardians, or even booked them passage out of here with us. All she had to do was reach out to me..."

"Maybe that's why she didn't? If you truly were that close, bringing you in would have also made you culpable for everything they did. Sounds like she's going to be around for awhile, a long while, so you'll have plenty of time to ask her yourself."

"... Yeah."

This time she really did go to sleep.

How I sleep now is very convenient, and I do like how utilitarian it is, but...

Looking over at Hera, I feel a slight pang of sadness. Knowing it's something I've lost forever, and that with each passing day I forget more and more of what it used to feel like to sleep with a normal body.

I don't even dream anymore... Now all I do is tell my body to turn off like this, and it just...

It is apparently very difficult to keep this body asleep next to someone else. I assume it's because I lived alone in hostile places for so long, but every little thing wakes me up now. Every time she twitched my core would roar to life as my eyes snapped open. At least going back to sleep is easy for me now...

"Is it time to leave? I hear quite the commotion outside."

"Either that or we're being attacked again, but it doesn't sound like that at all." Hera said, already on her way out the door.

Well, time to say goodbye to this place.

Rolling out of bed, I follow after Hera through the door, where I'm met with an empty hall.

Weird, it sounded like they were out here? I wonder if this place is designed to enhance sounds from outside for those within. Despite them being outside, I can understand most the conversations going on out there. It's rather fascinating, I would like to build a home that does this if I ever find a place to settle down. A prospect that is seeming more and more unlikely as my life progresses in a continuously worse direction.

As I exit the temple, I immediately call out to Markus who was discussing the darkness with Godwin.

"I can spot most of the threats."

"What?" Markus replies, baffled.

"You were worried about the lack of visibility right? I could hear you inside the temple. If I change my eyes a little, I can see heat signatures, so I'll be able to see anything with body heat approaching us. I won't be able to see anything without heat obviously, but the number of monsters in that group has been very limited in my experience."

Markus rubs his chin, "I see, that would help greatly. We were planning on channeling the artifact to release light orbs in the woods around the caravan, but that runs the risk of attracting threats for miles. If you would take the scouting position, we will use minimal lighting on the procession, which should reduce the risk by a substantial amount."

"Perfect, now this old man will be able to relax for the trip back. Wake me if something needs to be killed." Godwin said, jumping into the nearby caravan and promptly laying down on the bedding inside.

Markus points to the longest wagon in the group, "You'll be on top of that one, it's placed in the middle of the caravan. Also, we need that wagon protected more than the others, so please assist us if something goes wrong and we are occupied."

"Okay, that won't be a problem, but I have a request as well. Can you point the crystal lights outward so none of the light is hitting me?"

"Ahh yes, I remember your... Condition, from our time inside Arkaios' realm." Markus said, instructing a nearby priest to redirect the lights.

I completely forgot that when I first entered his realm, he purged my aura with light and it didn't hurt at all, nor drain any of my mana. I didn't know it was possible to blast me with light in a painless way, but apparently it is? At least for an old god it's possible.

As I wait for the priest to fix the lights, I see people filing into wagons all around me. This is moving way faster than I was expecting. It makes sense though, they need to return to civilization as soon as possible... Wait, why are they so low on rations?

I run up to Jasper, who is checking his wagon for abnormalities. "Jasper, why the hell are they so low on rations already? Didn't you guys just get here?"

"Most of the rations came in the Kikyou caravan, which are now lost somewhere in that monster-ridden town. I don't think you've seen it yet, but there is a large partition behind the temple that is walled off, it's almost as big as the rest of the town combined. The whole area is designed for growing food, it even has the best type of soil that is very hard to find on Urza these days. It lasts sixty to seventy years easily, so it was just waiting to be utilized. I assume you've figured out where I'm going with this? The caravan here was filled with farmers meant to revitalize this area, and plenty of peria dust was brought to make the first yields finish in a week. Except, well..." Jasper said, scooping up some snow with his hand.

So that's what happened... The weather suddenly dropping by seventy degrees had killed their crops, while removing any chance of planting more at the same time. Xelba grew all their food underground, but I assume that's not an option here. If it was, they would've already done that.

Off to the side, I see the priest dismounting my wagon, having finished readjusting the lights.

I say goodbye to Jasper, heading towards the wagon and immediately jumping up onto its roof.

Laying down in the center, I gaze up at the snow falling down from a pitch black sky, thinking about how the last time I saw snow I was five years old. Soon after that a much darker thought begins to occupy my mind.

... Forty-two years. It's been forty-two... Years.

Clenching my fists, I begin banging the back of my head against the wagon. My vision distorts as I remember Xelba, Viktor, my unit, and my master.

This... This isn't even the same world I knew. At least when I was growing up in the faceless realm, time was passing normally, and I felt like I could one day reunite with my family back on Aetheria. Surely my uncles and aunts would welcome me home with open arms, even if I do look like this now. But forty-two... FORTY-TWO YEARS?! Elves rarely make it to one-hundred years old thanks to the fucking machines, and most of my aunts and uncles were around thirty to fifty years old when I was there last. The chances of them all being dead are much higher than any of them being alive... And then there is Simon and Nera, my only two friends that escaped Xelba. They were heading to Aetheria, but are they still there after forty-two years? I don't know... I just don't know anything anymore and it's maddening.

... I need to train. It's what I did in Xelba to keep my mind clear. Yeah... Every time we stop I'll train like I used to, that'll help me. Then I'll absorb Eldritch until I'm strong enough to go home. If there is nobody left alive when I finally make it home... Well, I'll at least try to kill Viktor. I'll probably fail going at it alone, but he thinks I'm dead so I've got the element of surprise on my side.

About thirty excruciatingly long minutes later, The wagons up front begin moving.

Looks like it's time... They said it'll take about two weeks, with us meeting the supply caravan a week from now if nothing goes wrong. The grakkas will need to rest once every three days at the rate we're moving, so that'll be the chance I get to recover. I could stay awake the whole two weeks, but I'd really prefer not to do that. If something happens at the end of that two weeks and my core is stressed out, that would be disastrous.

Picking up the crystal they gave me, I test it out on nearby buildings. A massive directed light fires out from the crystal, reminding me of spotlights back in my world.

This one is much smaller, but it'll be perfect for pointing out threats.

A few hours later, I spot the first threat. It's small so it shouldn't be difficult to deal with, but you never really know till the fighting starts.

I pour a tiny bit of mana into the crystal, lighting it up in the direction of the creature. The reaction from the Guards and Templars was instant.

"One small threat, it's coming in fast!! Ten seconds!!" I yell out.

Five seconds later the light shines off what appears to be armor on a wolf-like creature.

Ew, thank god I don't have to fight this. I hate crystal wolves... In the past I punched one so hard its head exploded, but I made a rookie mistake by keeping my eyes open when I did it. One of the shards went directly into my right eye. Even with pain being severely limited on this new body, that still hurt like hell, and it took forever to heal.

As expected, the 'fight' was over instantly. One crossbow bolt from a guard penetrated the armor on the creatures skull, while another guard crushed it with a giant mallet.

Must be one hell of a crossbow to penetrate that things armor.

I turn the light off as a small hand places itself on the roof to my left. Eventually, the person pulls themself onto the roof, revealing a small girl with pretty blue hair.

"Isn't it cold out here? Especially considering how small you are."

Aresa sits down next to me, holding up her board at me.

{Bored. Can deal with the cold.}

She's shivering an awful lot for someone who can 'deal with it'. There's one other part that stuck out to me though...

"Did you write that out before coming here, knowing what I'd ask?"

She holds the board up again, as words seem to appear on the board out of thin air.

{No. I can write like this too. Don't tell the others.}

"Well that's new... If you're going to learn magic like that, why not learn how to tell your soul to fix your throat, or whatever is stopping you from speaking?"

{I can fix it anytime I want. I have... Reasons, for not doing so.}

It's pretty obvious that she doesn't want to talk about it, and I see no reason to push the subject.

I enhance my pointer finger, cutting a slit along my forearm. Pulling out a bit of blood at a time, eventually creating a very large cloth mesh with tiny holes on it as Aresa watches me with a rather confused looking face.

{A fascinating ability, but what are you doing?}

"Hold on princess, I'm almost finished."

Next I create six little hardened blocks of blood, and one thin shaft. Putting the wagon with the shaft, I place it between us near my knees, then I throw the cloth on top of it. Next I put the six blocks around us a fair distance away, holding the rest of the cloth down.

"Pretty cool right? I can change it to any color I want to so it makes for good camo on any makeshift homes I create. Not that color matters right now. Oh, also, pour some mana into the mesh."

Aresa touches the cloth, and after a few seconds some new words appear on the board.

{It's becoming warm... This is amazing! Are you able to make it cold too?}

"Yes, but I would need to create a new mesh. With this you should stay warm and not get buried in snow. Don't worry about the lack of vision, I can still see heat through the holes in the mesh."

Aresa scoots next to me, bringing her knees up to her chest.

{Invisibility. Camo cloth. No need to breathe. Bodily functions non-existent from what I see, so you make no noise. And finally, no need to sleep I think? Whatever molded you in their image, was probably a predator.}

A hunter huh... I've always thought that as well, so it's interesting to hear someone else say the same thing. I also steal abilities and eat souls, which makes her guess seem all the more correct.

{They told me about the other realm, can I see it some time? I was sad I missed out on it.}

"Sure I don't mind. I'll show you the TV too, I bet you'd enjoy having one of those."

{I would love that... Um, how many people did you see in this other realm? Not many I assume.}

"Tens of thousands. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of people over there is in the hundreds of millions. I have no idea of how vast that realm is, and people kept coming over the ocean in corrupted boats to kill other factions in the hopes of feeding those faceless gods to their own."

{M-Millions?! How?! There can't possibly be that many transfer rituals going on... And what are 'corrupted boats'?}

"Like I said, I don't know how vast that realm is, and I severely doubt anyone else does either. For all we know, any use of chaos magic in the universe invoking transfers could send them to that realm. I think it's a possibility because I saw multiple races that had nothing in common with anything I've seen on the Elven planet nor Urza. They also spoke in languages I've never heard before so, I think they were aliens."

She was horrified at first, but once I said the word 'aliens' her eyes lit up.

{Aliens!! I've always wondered if there was more life out there... That is so cool!}

"I've never doubted it, but maybe that's because I'm an Elf? Or no, maybe because of my uncle... He was always bragging about finding data in the ruins that proves humans were from a planet called Earth. So technically you and I are the aliens here. Although, my uncle did seem very... eccentric."

{This... This is why I so desired to go to the Elven planet. I had plans to, but then, well...}

"Considering what a friendly and welcoming place Urza is, I'm surprised something bad intervened in your plans."

Now that made her laugh quite hard. I couldn't hear it, but the smile on her face says it all.

"Oh right, the corrupted boats. You first have to understand how corruption works there. Everything is slowly corrupted in a region as a god is being born, but it all goes away once the god dies. Let me explain from the beginning. If you're in an uncorrupted part of the land, corruption will slowly start to take root, and over time you'll start to notice the land itself taking on the form of one of the faceless creatures, which gives you a sign of how the new god is going to look, until eventually a god is born. The people in these regions are annoyingly happy when this happens. I really don't know why, but it brings them to tears that they have their own god, and that's when their society turns into a military based one. The boats are created through normal means, but then corrupted to take on the form of their god, becoming partly biological in matter. The whole place is rather disgusting, yet somehow I feel nostalgic for it all the time... That's why my soul realm takes on the form of that realm."

Aresa looks like she's about to cry from excitement. Jeez, she is finding this much more interesting than I could have ever imagined.

I skimmed over a few parts, like how long it takes a new god to be born. They always start off in a broodling stage that the people there need to... Feed. But she's enjoying this way too much, I don't want to bog it down by explaining how people under the influence of the broodling will go pillage other villages and cities so they can bring people back as sacrifices.

{A-And what about the Elves and those ruins?! What have they found there? Do you fight monsters in them too?}

Now I'm the one laughing, she's like a little kid. "I was very young at the time so I really don't know what they normally find. I know my sister was happy about some dresses they bought once from a ruin diving team? Oh, and what my uncle found was apparently a movie from Earth. I don't remember the name or what it was about though. And finally yes, we fight monsters, but mostly machines."

{Machines? Machines... The only ones I know are objects like the printing press or that weaving thing.}

"Well I can guarantee you they aren't fighting printing presses... These are monsters in mechanical form. My Dad and Uncle would argue constantly over whether they were being produced from something the Earth humans made, or aliens. Don't ask why my dad thought it was aliens, I can't remember."

We talked like that off and on for the entire trip to Thule. Whenever I thought she'd be done asking questions, she'd barrage me with a whole new set. We also met up with the supply caravan just fine and had no major issues with monster attacks, much to everyone's surprise. Probably because our light was so limited. However, as we got close to Thule, I heard a sound I was very used to hearing back in the village we left.

"The warning bell huh... Hopefully it's nothing like what we faced before."

{They're letting the caravan through at our usual slow pace, and we've heard nothing from either the Guards or Templars. It can't be that bad.}

Hmm, that's true. Godwin would probably be yelling for me if it was an all-hands-on-deck kind of moment.

Our wagon made its way through the gate, continuing on until it broke off from the rest of the caravan, heading alone towards what looked like a large temple.

"Oh right, Markus did say this wagon was special."

{It holds the dawn artifact. It's what they used to purge The Tengu Lord and Satyr.}

... Okay, that's a little beyond special. It shows how much faith they have in their gods judgement when he declared me an ally. Normally there's no way in hell an outsider like me should be sitting on something this important, especially since I can turn invisible and steal it.

"Rei, can you come down for a minute?" Jasper calls out from below.

"They need help already? That was fast... I guess I'll see you later for dinner?"

{Yes I'll be there. See you soon.} Aresa said, waving as I jump down.

I walked up to Jasper, who is standing there with another man I don't recognize.

"This have something to do with the warning bells?"

"What the hell is this?" Said the other man.

"Nice to meet you too asshole."

"Captain, this helped us back in Kikyou, and had an aura of trust placed on her by Arkaios. Can we continue now?" Jasper said.

Once Arkaios' name popped up, the 'captain' straightened his back, looking at me uneasily.

"I-I see. Well I'm certainly not one to doubt our savior the Dawn itself. I apologize young lady, now what do you need from us?"

"What do I need? You two called me here."

Jasper sighed, "Rei, I know we just arrived and you've been on lookout when we were in transit, but I'll cut down the amount you owe me tremendously if you can help them find the monster wreaking havoc here. Captain, please explain."

"... Right. Well um, about three weeks ago it turned all dark out you know? And soon after that the beast appeared. No schedule to it, it just appears randomly and eats a family or two, then takes off into the woods. Our trackers say that all the guards chasing after it are ruining the prints, but that makes no sense you know? The monster is huge! How can human feet ruin the prints? Very strange, and it just appeared again an hour ago."

"Find it Jasper, or kill it? I may be stronger now, but fighting a 'massive' monster is going to be difficult."

"You only need to find it. This darkness is impeding the town guards, and apparently the monster is extremely fast for its size."

"Too fast! So large, yet so fast? Our very own Rickert can't keep up with it, and he can run faster than a wolf." The captain said.

"In that case I'll go take a look right now while the trail is somewhat fresh. Which direction?" I asked, looking at the captain.

He points past the temple, a little to the right. I begin running down the streets in the direction he pointed. I considered turning on my aura to avoid any problems that Jasper won't be there to solve, but there are lights everywhere. They're out in full force right now, and I can't really blame them. I'd be spooked too if something was hunting the town and nobody seemed to be able to stop it.

After some time I came upon what I assume is the latest victim's residence. The half destroyed home and all the blood are kind of a giveaway. The guards look at me sideways as I start to run along the tracks leading away from the home.

The prints kind of look human? There is however a beastly aspect to them, as shown by the claw marks, and they are indeed quite large. Massive is definitely the right term for whatever this creature is.

Upon reaching the woods I'm met with what appears to be a fistfight between two of the guards while the others yell at one another. I walk up to one of the men standing away from the crowd, shaking his head while mumbling curses.

"Interesting tracking technique. Does it usually work for them?"

"Fucking fools are only good at guarding gates and breaking up bar fights. We need the Guard or Templars to return, and soon." He looks over at me. "Who are you?"

"If by Guard you mean Godwin's crew, then they're here, and so are the Templars. Jasper sent me over here to see if I could track the monster. They'll probably be coming here soon too." Something tells me they won't though, but he doesn't need to know that. I think I know why Jasper was willing to drop the price on this armor, they really don't want to stay here. I remember Godwin saying they were heading straight for Viseux and with only a few months left till they leave this place forever, they probably need to get a lot of their affairs in order. So the sooner this hunt is over, the quicker we get to move on.

Hearing Godwin's name brightened the man up immediately. "Good news for once! I don't know who you are lady, but by all means, track away. God knows this lot is too busy arguing over who destroyed the tracks again."

Waving to the man, I continue on my way past the guards who are now rolling around on the snow. It doesn't take long for me to see why they were arguing.

"Well this is a hell of a mess... How is this possible?"

The trees here are unbelievably thick, easily ten to twelve meters wide. As I followed the tracks around the tree, I find a large number of human tracks, but there are no monster tracks to be found anywhere on the ground. There is also no snow here yet because the canopy is blanketing the entire forest. Even for me it's not easy to see tracks on the hard ground in this darkness, but still, I should see something.

Hmm... That means it either jumped, or climbed the trees?

Scanning the tree, I see no obvious signs of damage anywhere. Reaching out to rip some bark off proves to be surprisingly difficult too.

I still can't rule it out, but my instincts are telling me it didn't climb these trees. So that leaves a few other options, like warping, but that's way too rare for me to run into again so soon.

Also... Something about these tracks is really bugging me. They look haphazard to the point of appearing deliberate.

Focusing hard, I can't find a rhyme or reason to any of them. Well, I can't deny that there are guards here who will apparently fight each other while tracking a monster. Geniuses of that level could easily create such a pointless series of tracks... Ah!

I finally see something out of place.

Moving around the tree, opposite of the side where I and the guards had rounded the tree, I see an almost imperceptible set of human tracks. Even I can barely make them out.

I follow after them as they round the tree, heading back towards the village. One major difference on this side of the tree makes itself apparent immediately. There is a long row of tall bushes that would make it impossible to see anyone out here from the village side, and vice versa.

I swear I can see something on the right heel of these prints too, but it's too damn dark to make out.

After walking this way for about thirty meters, they cut off into the bushes. Pushing the bushes aside, I see the backside of a home with no lights present, and a clear view of human footprints halfway to the home where snow has begun to accumulate. Lastly, I can see a small red blotch in the right heel of the snow prints.

... Well this just became far more interesting than I was originally expecting. Jasper better settle in, I don't think this is the kind of hunt that will be solved in one night.