"Thank you, Milord. Thank you." Cam's mother clung to my arm, her face soaked with tears. The boy was a few feet away, asleep in his father's arms. "What can we do for you? We don't have much, but we'll do anything."

I was trying to suppress my emotions, but that wasn't working very well. Helping people was emotional work. "You really don't have to thank me. We were glad to help."

"Nonsense." The father said from behind his wife. "Please, tell us what we can do. Without you, our boy would be..." The man choked up and couldn't finish his sentence.

I'd been trying to tell them it was alright, to no avail. I had a feeling they wouldn't take no for an answer. "Donate to the Temple. They're the real heroes. Without them, we wouldn't have been there."

"We'll do it. I swear." The man cradled his son's head. Reaching for his wife, he pulled her up, and the couple embraced before disappearing out of the chief's front door.

"I'm so glad we could find him," Tristan said beside me.

"Me, too."

Our eyes met. She reached for me with her good hand and grabbed mine. She squeezed.

As we held hands, I looked around the small room. The home was simple and sparsely furnished, with only a small two-seated table against the wall, a fireplace, and a small bookshelf decorating the room. There were three rooms, but all three doors were shut.

Looking back at Tristan, I took the woman in. Her other arm, the one the gloomfang had bitten, was mostly healed from Na-Ya's magic and a potion she drank when we got back to town, but Na-Ya said she'd have to keep her arm in a sling for a couple of days as a precaution. Noticing me looking at her, she said, "What?"

"Oh, just thinking." I'd carried her most of the way back to Goodfield. She'd slept nearly the whole way. When she finally woke up, she let me carry her for a while longer before telling me she could walk the rest of the way. Reluctantly, I'd let her down.

"About?" She looked at me shyly.

"About how I could have carried you the whole way." That wasn't true. I was straining terribly by the end. However, I'd decided that I would stop at nothing until I was strong enough to do it.

She grinned. "Maybe next time, I'll carry you."

"I don't think I'd like that as much."

"I would." Her face got serious. "You were great out there. You saved that kid."

I squeezed her hand. "We did it together. You were amazing, too."

"Yeah, I guess so." She smiled sheepishly. "Weird to think about. If we hadn't been there..."

"I'm glad we were."

The front door opened, and Maven walked in. When we got to town, Maven dropped us off at the chief's house and disappeared with Na-Ya. That's when the boy's parents found us. We hadn't seen her since. "You both did well." Maven marched up and clapped us on the shoulders.

"Ow!" Tristan flinched and grabbed at her shoulder.

"Oops, sorry." Maven pulled her hands back like she'd touched a hot stove. "Didn't think about that."

"Jerk," Tristan grumbled.

Maven grinned. "You'll survive." Looking us each in the eye, she kept talking, "Even if you ignored my orders, I have to say that I'm proud of you both. Gloomfangs are no joke, and you saved that kid's life. You both should be proud of yourselves."

"Thank you, Maven," Tristan said as she rubbed her shoulder.

"Yeah, I appreciate it." I wasn't used to all the praise. Renard was a cruel taskmaster, and Arden wasn't much better. I wasn't used to it, but praise was all we'd gotten since we got back from Copperhill. I couldn't say that it wasn't nice, but it felt bittersweet. We hadn't succeeded without some losses. "I'm sorry about Voss and Ilan."

She shook her head. "That's actually what I'm here to talk to you both about." She looked around the room, then leaned closer. "You two have a minute?"

I looked over at Tristan, who nodded. "Yeah. What's up?"

"Not here. Let's go outside." She turned and walked out the front door.

Following her outside, we found ourselves in a small makeshift camp that the Templars had constructed while we were talking to Cam's parents. The camp circled the chief's entire house. A dozen tents and a bunch of supplies strewn about, and half of the Templars were already asleep in their tents. I was impressed.

"Let's go to the big tree." Maven pointed to the north, then started weaving through the tents.

We followed, and a few minutes later, the three of us were sitting under the big tree at the top of the hill that overlooked the village. The Tower was visible in the distance, looking almost exactly like it had when Tristan and I had our date the day before. When we got situated, I broke the ice. "So, what did you want to talk to us about?"

Maven took a deep breath. "So, with everything that's happened, I think you two need to know some things."

"What things?" Tristan leaned closer.

She looked at us both. "What I'm about to tell you can't leave this tree. Got it?"

We nodded. "Got it."

"Yeah."

Satisfied, she leaned closer. "Ro found the village chief last night."

"That's great!" Tristan's voice was bright, but Maven's face made it clear the news wasn't great.

I shook my head. "Is that a bad thing?"

Maven's face remained neutral. "You know the monster that attacked the farmers?"

"Yeah. It was a gloomfang. We saw the marks in the barn."

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't. It was the chief."

I got chills. "What do you mean?'

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Tristan shifted next to me. "I don't understand. What we saw... only a monster could do that."

Maven nodded. "That's what Ro said he thought at first, too. However, things weren't adding up. That's why he told you two to meet up with us. Turns out, his hunch was right."

I wasn't following. "What was it then? What happened to the chief?"

"That's the thing. We don't know. Na-Ya took me out to look at the body when we got back. It was..." Her face grew a shade paler. "I've never seen anything like it. It was like something out of a horror story."

"What did it look like?"

She shuddered. "It was like he got thrown into a pot with a dozen other animals and cooked too long."

"How do you know it was him, then?" Tristan's voice wavered.

Maven pulled something out of her belt pouch. Holding her hand out, I could see that she was holding a wide gold ring with a stylized hand symbol carved into the top. Inside the hand was an eye, and the eye's pupil was set with a thick emerald. "The only way we identified him is by this ring. His mother said he got it a few years ago and always wore it."

"Where is the body now?"

"Once we identified him, we burned the body."

Tristan's breathing was heavy. "Sounds horrifying."

"It was. That shit's going to stick in my head for a while. Nightmare fuel, really. No one should have to see something like that."

"Are you telling the villagers?"

"No. We're telling them that he got mauled by a gloomfang."

"Why?"

"Because we need to keep things quiet. Something's happening out here, and we won't be able to do what we need to do if the villagers are panicking. Plus, we don't want them to know everything we do. Sometimes, it's good to keep your cards closer to the chest."

That made sense. "Then why tell us?"

"Because you need to know," she said plainly. "Something's happening out here, and you're as much a part of it now as we are. Plus, if you know more, you'll know what to look for." She looked back toward the village. "Jorn's team was attacked last night."

I realized I hadn't seen him since we got back. "Is he alive?"

"He is, though he took a good cut to the leg."

"That's a relief." Tristan sighed. "What attacked them?"

Maven's eyes grew hard. "Villagers from the last village we walked through. Fairbrook, I think. Since he went south, they caught up with him on his patrol."

"Why?" Tristan's eyes grew wide. "Why would the villagers attack us?"

Maven shook her head. "We have no idea. The only clue we have is that Jorn found this same symbol on each of them. Tattoos, brands, rings, amulets. All of them had this mark on their body somewhere." She rolled the ring in her hand.

That was freaky. "What does that mean?"

"We don't know. That's why Ro-Saleh's not with us."

I realized I hadn't seen Ro either. "Where is he?"

She pointed south. "He's heading back to the Temple to talk to Arden."

I nodded. If anyone knew anything about a random symbol found out in the woods, it would be Arden. "So, what now?"

Maven looked away and toward the tower. Her brown eyes shone in the light. "We found an altar deep in Copperhill with that same symbol. That's when we got attacked."

I got chills again. "So you knew something was up then?"

She shook her head. "No. I didn't think much of it then. Wannabe necromancers and dark mages set up shop in lowbie dungeons all the time. We've run into some three times this year alone, and one was a whole coven. It didn't stand out."

"But it's not just the dungeon." I was putting the pieces together.

"Yup. We run into a symbol deep in a dungeon, then we come back to the village to find out that the chief has a ring with that same symbol. And, some villagers have it, too? My guess is there's got to be some organization working in the shadows out here. There's no way it's all a coincidence."

"That's... yeah," I agreed.

"And now, you're involved. Both of you. Since you came out here with us, these people know your faces. Your names. If we're being targeted, you will be too."

I hated the sound of that. "Should we go back to the Temple, then?"

"No. We're staying. We can't leave Copperhill infested like it is, and we can't leave the people here unprotected." She looked at Tristan. "And, since we can't escort you back without reducing our numbers, you're both staying too."

I nodded. "So, when do we leave for Copperhill, then?"

"You won't be going. You're staying in Goodfield until we're done."

"But I thought you wanted to keep us safe?"

"I do. That's why I've asked if you can stay in the chief's house until we're done. Sela, the chief's mother, agreed and is turning your rooms down as we speak." She thrust her jaw back toward the village. From where we were sitting, I could see the old woman through one of the windows of the chief's house.

I didn't know how I felt about sleeping in a dead guy's house, but a bed sounded nice right about now. "Why can't we help?"

"You're the weakest, and you're not real Templars. It's our job to keep you safe."

Rude. "What about the rest of you?"

"Jorn and the injured will be staying with Grath, the chief's brother, until they're healed. The rest of us will be sleeping outside the chief's house in our tents. When Ro gets back, he should have a few more reinforcements with him. We'll leave a couple of people in the village with you, and the rest of us will head to Copperhill."

"Okay. If you think that's best."

"I do. Na-Ya agrees." She smiled at us. "You're welcome, by the way."

"For?"

"For getting you two a bed. Aside from the chief's room, which we're keeping locked, there's only one other bed. That's where you two will be sleeping."

Tristan blushed. "Thanks..."

I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. "I'll sleep on the floor."

Tristan whipped her head around. "No, you will not."

Maven laughed. "Dumb ass."

"I—"

"Just shut up, man." Maven laughed more.

Shaking her head, Tristan turned back to Maven. "So, do you have any ideas who's doing this?"

The Templar nodded. "Well, I have a few theories."

"Which are?"

"The first is the simplest. The Temple is an old and powerful institution with many enemies. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that there're people actively working against us in the region."

That sounded possible. "Okay, what's the next theory?"

"There are stories about cults in the mountains to the north. Some say they worship demons and spirits. Maybe this is one of those cults."

I shrugged. "Could be. What else?"

"My last theory is probably the most worrisome. It's also the one Ro thinks is true." She glanced between us. "He thinks that there's a powerful mage or something in the area that's corrupting people somehow. He thinks the mage's servants wear this symbol to recognize one another."

"And they're using the dungeons as a base of operations?" Tristan asked.

"It's certainly possible."

"That makes sense," I added.

"Yeah, I think so too." Leaning closer, she said, "And, to add fuel to that fire, Voss and Ilan's party members said that they're still active in the party screen. According to the system, the two are still alive. That means, whoever's in the dungeon wants people alive for some reason."

"What? Didn't you say they died?" Or maybe they were turned into undead? Could the undead even be in a party?

"We thought they did. Ilan went down hard. Took a spear to the chest. Then, when we couldn't fight them all off, Voss faced off against at least thirty and told us to run. Fucking hero. No one could survive that. But, somehow, he did. They both did."

"Could they be undead?"

Maven shook her head. "If they died or were turned, their entries would have disappeared."

Tristan swallowed loudly. "Scary."

"Shouldn't we try and get back as soon as possible, then? What if they're killed before you get there?"

Maven shook her head. "Trust me, I want to, but, none of us are nearly as strong as Ro or Na-Ya. And, since she's needed here to heal and Ro's gone back to the Temple, I'm not confident about attempting it without them. Especially with Jorn being injured. Fucker's lazy as hell, but he's strong." Her face dropped. "I wish they'd told me before Ro left; otherwise, we'd be marching back there right now."

"No use in risking more lives," I said.

"Exactly." Maven leaned back. "So, we'll be trying another attempt at Copperhill in a few days, once Jorn's leg is better and Ro gets back. You two will be staying here and keeping an eye on the village. Anything that comes up, I expect you to inform me when we get back. Got it?"

I nodded. "We'll be sure to tell you if we see anything."

Glancing at Tristan, I saw that she was fidgeting.

"What is it, Tristan?"

She sighed. "Mind if I take that ring, Maven?"

Maven rolled it around in her forefingers for a second, then handed it to her. "Sure. We've got a few others. I don't need it. But what for?"

Tristan held it up into the light. "If we're staying in town, I want to make ourselves useful. We'll do our best to gather information while you're gone."

"That works for me. Just be careful, and don't trust anyone. We don't know who else might be with them." Standing up, Maven brushed off her pants. "Well, until then, let's get you two some rest. While Tristan got to sleep the whole way back while being princess carried, I'm pretty sure I've never seen eye circles that dark before, Alex."

"I feel..." I wanted to say I felt fine, but I actually feld like absolute dogshit. "Sleep would be good."

She laughed. "Yeah. We can tell."

Tristan stood. "Do they have a bath in the village?"

Maven nodded. "No, but the river's clean. Why don't you two go wash off, then you can go get some shut-eye?"

She didn't have to tell me twice.

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