The carriage didn’t provide the most comfortable ride Benedict ever had—how could it, when he sat atop a layer of coffers filled with supplies?—but his feet still thanked him. Most of the others were in the same boat as he, with only Amalyn having relief. She sat on the front bench next to Lem, who was driving their horse. At the very least, Phynel had discovered suspension, given the ride was fairly smooth; his seat was just uncomfortable.

  All around them, giant stones rose from the ground, some of them like obelisks with bases wider than the carriage was long, horse included. Others were more like mountains or hills; miniature mountains strewn around almost randomly. Benedict found himself wondering how the land had become like that. If Noctim ever opened back up, he might find a scholar who might give him a theory.

  That night, Shiyo’s watchdog spells settled no one’s spirits enough to sleep. They watched in shifts of one instead, with only Lem having a full sleep, then continued on in the morning. Fortunately, nothing had stalked them thus far; nothing they had seen.

  “What is it you two adventure for?” Lem shouted to the back.

  “Excuse me?” Benedict asked.

  “Amalyn already told me her party’s story. I wanted to know yours.”

  “Nothing much to say,” Shiyo replied. “We just move from place to place, helping people and treasure hunting.”

  “We were on our way to Noctim, but stalled because of the closure,” Benedict added.

  “It’s been hard on us, too,” Lem said. “Noctim was one of Tilm’s best trading partners before the lords closed it off.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have information about what happened there, would you?” Ordra asked.

  “The city’s lords left us all in the dark. Best we can tell, no one has entered or left the city since. Worse, no guards stand by to stop anyone. The gates are permanently closed, even to aid.”

  Benedict watched the landscape pass by. The longer Noctim remained closed, the more suspicious he grew. Why close an entire city for that long? It had to be an extreme problem to provoke an extreme response, right? A plague? Monsters? Tyrannical rulers?

  A human body lay on the ground. The sight of it caught Benedict’s eye immediately. “Lem, halt!”

  The carriage stopped, and Benedict leapt out to check on the body. The man had been dead for at least a few days. His blood stained the grass around him, all of it seeming to come from three holes in his chest. Benedict flipped him over to look into his face. He had no need, as scavengers had already tasted their fill of it. He rolled the body back before saying a silent prayer.

  Kirion had found two more bodies on the ground. One was missing his left arm—severed at the shoulder—while the other lay twisted into an impossible position. Further away lay a horse with the contents of its torso spilled onto the ground nearby.

  The longer they stayed, the worse things became. Splintered wood covered the ground in spots, along with more bodies. Weapons of all kinds were bent and broken. An overwhelming stench of death permeated the area with it. Simpley standing near it would turn a weaker man’s stomach.

  “This is where it attacked us,” Lem said, barely restraining the tears.

  “Please no,” Shiyo whispered.

  “What is it?” Benedict asked.

  “No. It can’t be. We killed the last one.”

  “Lem, what did these men bring with them?” Ordra asked.

  “Just their weapons and garb. Maybe some potions,” Lem replied.

  “With your permission, I’d like to search these bodies for useful supplies. We’ll bury them afterward, provided this monster doesn’t show.”

  While Lem didn’t seem keen on the looting of his friends’ coffers, he was more than willing to see them buried. Thus, the party of five went about it. The men truly had not brought much with them—all Benedict found were various potions and a couple of letters. After searching each coffer, Ordra brought a shovel, and they dug just deep enough to cover the body.

  Any passing monster could dig a body out of those shallow holes with little effort. Lem didn’t seem to think about that. He simply gave them what last rites he could. The entire exercise lasted hours; far longer than they anticipated or wanted, forcing them to camp there for the night.

  Benedict was first watch, a position that should have afforded him some solace but for the nightmares born from the death surrounding him. After hours of sleeping and waking once again, he gave up and walked himself over to the watch position. They had chosen one rock for the honor, about medium height for the area, but with a comfortable peak and one side angled enough that it was easy to scale. Up top, Ordra sat, scanning the night for movement.

  “Need some company?” Benedict asked.

  “Can’t sleep?” Ordra replied.

  “Not a wink.”

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

  “Come up here.”

  Like he had earlier in the night, Benedict scanned the area for any movement. While a normal monster would be bad enough, he hunted for the thing that killed all those people. In the clearing below, he could still make out the graves they had dug for them. Movement caught his eye in the distance, running up one of the rocks and silhouette by moonlight. It was just Shiyo’s watchdog. It perched atop the tallest rock and searched the area.

  “That spell is impressive,” Ordra said, looking in the direction of the watchdog.

  “It works well enough. I need to ask who gave it to her,” Benedict said.

  “How is it you two came to meet?”

  Benedict thought hard. How could he sanitize it so Ordra wouldn’t be suspicious? “Well, I was an apprentice adventurer. She joined the party for a job, and the night after, goblins ambushed us. Long story short, we ended up alone and lost. She volunteered to take me to Noctim, where I could get better work and a permanent party.”

  “Not a bad idea, as far as that goes. I thought for sure you two would be staying together, though. You seem to make a good enough team.”

  “It seems that way, but this was the plan. What about you? How did you meet Kirion and Amalyn?”

  “That’s a story and a half. I met Kirion as part of a job to catch a thief. He was set to be hanged for the trouble he caused, but I convinced the judge to show leniency if he showed us where the thieves’ guild headquarters was.”

  “And he went along with it?”

  “It was give up his employer or give up his head. Which would you pick?”

  “Fair point.”

  “After we found and took out the guild, I made him an offer: give up thieving and use his talents for good as my companion, or rot in a prison cell. He chose the former, obviously. He’s good at what he does, too.”

  “And Amalyn?”

  “She doesn’t like revealing her past. I’ll just say we found her having recently escaped from a remarkably bad situation. At her insistence, she trained as an adventurer and became quite the warrior by the time she tracked me down again. It’s been a couple years since she joined.”

  “Poor girl.”

  They sat in silence for a minute, both scanning the land around them. Shiyo’s watchdog continued its patrol in the far distance. Back at their camp, everyone slept soundly around the fire, including their horse. All was still.

  Benedict stood. “I’m still restless. I’m gping to take a walk.”

  “Be safe out there,” Ordra said.

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  As helpful as the watchdog was, Benedict might feel better if he had eyes out there himself. Sword drawn, he crept around the stone towers, hunting for any watcher in the dark. All he found were insects and a single unfortunate squirrel that he sliced in half before he could think.

  He found himself near the largest of the stones, a virtual obelisk reaching at least fifty feet high, by his reckoning. He was well out of sight of Ordra—or whoever might be on watch if his shift was done. Darkness closed around him, despite the moonlit sky, and he started trembling. Morighana’s power flared, and he let it flow through him.

  The world came to him as if it were a bright, sunny day. He could see Ordra in the distance, rising and stretching as he left his post to get someone else. Next watch should be Shiyo’s, if he remembered correctly. The watchdog moved on, circling the area away from him. A bird landed on a stone, groomed itself for a few seconds, then flew away again. His heart slowed, and his hands stopped trembling. He was safe.

  Something big moved at the edge of his vision, and he ran toward it. It kept just away from his senses, a shadowy blur too quick to be natural, then it disappeared. Further and further he ran, until he could no longer sense the camp. The shadow was gone.

  “What are you doing running after something like that?” he complained to himself. “Idiot.”

  Benedict turned back to the camp and strode back in the camp’s direction. Five steps in, his blood froze, and pain seared through his head. He collapsed to his knees as his stomach forced bile up through his throat and onto the ground. His vision blurred, even with Morighana’s power still coursing through his body.

  “I see you.” The voice resonated through his entire body. “I see you.”

  Benedict let Morighana’s power flare then focused it on the voice. It laughed. Benedict’s stomach ejected more bile. Pain shot through his body as he forced himself forward. The voice kept forcing itself onto him. It came into his senses, big and dark with a single eye.

  Morighana’s power faded, and so did the force upon Benedict’s body. Lightened steps took him back through the stone towers. He wound around them, looking back constantly. Shadows moved at the edge of his vision but disappeared when he tried to focus. A single eye peered at him from too far away for him to see.

  A rock stood between him and the lookout point. Was Shiyo there? If she was, he might be able to use Morighana’s power again. Even if the thing saw him, she’d be nearby. The world around him came into stark relief within his mind again. Shiyo was indeed the lookout. Where was the monster? No matter how far he stretched his senses, the shadow didn’t come back. No one else was awake, so he went up to Shiyo while Morighana’s power faded from his veins.

  She stood when he approached. “Is something wrong?”

  Benedict sat on the stone just before the top and told her about his experience.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, gods, no.”

  “What is it?” Benedict asked.

  “I hope I’m wrong. Tell me if anyone awakens.”

  “Sure.”

  Benedict looked back to camp. Everyone was still accounted for. Shiyo’s eyes glowed, and she went to one knee. A chill hit Benedict’s body. What was that thing.

  Shiyo muffled a scream and fell, rolling down the rock and stopping at the bottom. Benedict ran after her, cradling her as he picked her up. Her entire body trembled, and her eyes filled with fear, yet she said nothing.

  They arrived in Tilm by midday. Shiyo had kept silent the remaining trip and barely said a thing when the guards questioned them at the gate. Inside, the townspeople shambled about like zombies, grief and exhaustion on their faces. They spared only passing glances at the cart as Lem drove past them.

  Then one woman ran up to them. “Where’s Hana? Please tell me!”

  Amalyn reached for the woman and held her hand. “She’s safe with a dear friend in Lorvath.”

  The woman thanked her and walked away, crying tears of relief. Shiyo looked around, too, eyes betraying nothing more.

  They stopped in the square, where a group waited to unload the supplies. The adventurers helped them get everything off except for one coffer: the fire throwers from Celica.

  When everyone else had left, a high-ranking guard walked up to them, his face bearing a dark expression. “Lem, good to see you. Am I to assume the rest didn’t make it?”

  “Hana is safe in Lorvath,” Lem said. “The others…”

  The guard placed a hand on Lem’s shoulder. “Don’t despair. We’ll pay this monster back for them. Now, who are these people?”

  “These adventurers have volunteered to help us. I believe their expertise should come in handy. If nothing else, we could do with more experienced warriors.”

  “Welcome to Tilm, everyone. Thank you for your bravery in this time.”

  “I would like to discuss a potential plan for killing this monster as soon as possible,” Ordra said.

  “My men will be happy to have a plan.”

  “We won’t take long.”

  “You don’t know what you’re up against,” Shiyo interrupted. “Killing this thing won’t be like destroying a swamp-dwelling tree beast, a big goblin, or even a dragon.” When everyone’s eyes fell on her, she took in a breath. “We face a dreadlord.”