Fiora ran, desperate to escape what she thought was death given form. She barely considered where she was going enough to direct herself back toward the village, toward safety. She didn’t know how long she had been running, but she finally came upon the river again. Hope shined in her mind before being dashed as she stumbled over a root, crashing to the ground.

  At that point she thought it was over; a loss of momentum meant a loss of life. She braced for the killing blow, the pain of claws and teeth sinking into her flesh, but it didn’t come. Confusion managed to break its way through the haze of fear that clouded her mind as she cast a glance behind her. There was nothing there. Whatever that creature was, it did not chase her.

  Finally calming down enough to think, the entire situation began to take on bizarre shades in her mind as she picked it apart. The rocks that were thrown around her felt the same as the time she was being assaulted by the idiots. However, this time the creature appeared immediately following her ignoring the rocks. This meant one of two things: either the hermit was trying to warn her away from it, or it was the hermit.

  Weighing the possibilities in her mind, she surprisingly found it more likely that the creature was the hermit that she had been looking for. That threw her for a loop as she tried to come to terms with the idea. Whatever that thing was, it had saved her from the idiots and now it had let her go when it could have very easily slaughtered her with no one ever finding out.

  Nothing about what happened made sense to Fiora as she grappled with the possibility that she might be insane. Taking a deep breath, she reexamined the situation with as clear of a mind as she could get. Putting together everything that she had seen, it was obvious that the creature was intelligent. It wore the skins of animals as a crude clothing, meaning it was smart enough to figure out how to make it. Not only that, but the effigies made from bones were also a sign of deeper thought. Mindless beasts don’t create things, even something as morbid as bone sculptures.

  Too many questions, not enough answers, but one thing was for certain, Fiora was not done yet. Even so, she was still rattled, and heading back out into the woods was not a great idea. If the hypothesis she was forming was correct, then there was no danger, but even so, she would feel better with a plan B, just in case.

  Finding the fallen tree again, she crossed the water and then made the journey back to the village, feeling unnaturally exhausted for it being so early. She hit her leg fairly hard when she tripped, and now she had slight limp to her gait. It was an uncomfortable walk home as she hoped that she could get off her feet for a little while.

  Home was a welcome sight. She heaved a sigh of relief as she opened the door and saw her father right where she left him. He turned and his eyes went wide as he saw her disheveled state. Before he could descend into a pit of worry, she cut him off with a raised hand.

  “I tripped on a root this time, I’m fine,” she reassured him.

  Emil was frozen with his mouth open for a second before he dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his face quite roughly. “Good god Fiora, you’re going to take years off my life if you keep showing up looking like this.”

  She did feel bad making him worry. “I’m sorry. Believe me when I say I’m not trying to look like this.”

  He huffed with amusement. “Really? Could have fooled me. Here I was thinking that this was some new fashion statement.”

  She tittered a laugh as she went to clean herself up. As Fiora walked, Emil noticed that she had a slight limp. “Did you hurt your leg?”

  “Just bruised it a bit. It’ll be fine after some time.”

  “Well here, at least apply this to where it hurts after you clean yourself up. It should help with the pain.” He handed her a topical ointment from a collection of medicines that were at his workstation. She thanked him as she went to clean up.

  At least this time it wasn’t as much of a hassle to straighten out her appearance. A single, quick fall was better then being forced into the dirt and struggling, after all. She was cleaned up in no time at all, and the ointment her father gave her was steadily doing its job and helping lessen the pain. Fiora contemplated telling her father about what she had seen, but she figured that it was unlikely he would believe her. He’d probably write it off as a bear that spooked her and then prevent her from going back into the woods for the foreseeable future. So, she decided to keep it a secret as she finished cleaning herself up.

  Just because she was presentable again didn’t mean she wanted to go anywhere, though. She decided to stay home for the day and help her father with his work for a while. She’d had more than enough of the forest for now.

  It was a quiet day, and they didn’t have many customers drop by other than Mrs. Eira who came by for medication to help with an old injury. She was one of the original inhabitants of this village before it was burned down, and during the fire her leg was injured by falling debris that left a fracture. It didn’t heal quite right leading to her experiencing frequent discomfort and requiring the use of a cane to take some pressure off the limb.

  During the quiet hours she began to make preparations for her next trip into the woods. Now that she knew exactly what she was dealing with, she worked on creating a tonic her father had showed her when she was younger. He did it mostly as a joke, emphasizing how this concoction could make anyone vomit with even a few drops, just to gross her out. It did gross her out, but now she had an actual use for it as an emergency escape plan. Naturally, she prepared it while her dad wasn’t looking. She didn’t need him asking any difficult questions.

  She stored the completed substance in a vial she kept tucked away in her room, ready for use. Fiora hoped that her theory was right and that she wouldn’t need it, but it wasn’t like there were any guarantees, and the creature was very territorial by the looks of things. Just because it appeared to be smart didn’t mean that it wasn’t dangerous, and she was certain that it was dangerous. Just the memory of being face to face with it made the hairs on her neck bristle.

  A part of her realized that going back to its territory after it chased her away was a foolish thing to do, but her curiosity had always been a vice that she could not ignore. She had gotten into trouble many times before due to her wanting answers for some mystery that caught her attention. Fiora may or may not have even ruined a marriage when she was ten because there were rumors about adultery. She ended up confirming such when she followed the husband on one of his late-night escapades before reporting back to the wife.

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  Whatever the reason, she could not force herself to drop this and pretend she didn’t see what she had. Speaking to the villagers about this without evidence would also likely not work and probably land her in trouble. She’d either be labeled as crazy and locked away, or worse, some kind of witch or demon worshiper and burned by an inquisition. She needed to figure out exactly what this thing was and then gather evidence if she was going to report it.

  That would all be tomorrow as she ended the day with her mind full of plans. Her sleep was light as eagerness and nervousness warred within her. However tomorrow played out, it would likely be the most important day of her life.

  The following morning she did her normal routine. She tried not to let it slip what she was planning, but her dad was perceptive when it came to her.

  “You seem a little... eager, this morning, Fiora,” he said as they were sitting down for breakfast. “Do you have plans for something today?”

  She hated and loved that her father was so in tune with her. With a shrug, she tried to play it off. “Nothing special that I can think of.”

  “Hmm, really?” He scrutinized her for a second before a sly grin spread across his face. “Could it be that my daughter has finally found a man that has taken her fancy?”

  The reaction she had to that was automatic as she groaned with a sigh. “Dad, please stop with that joke, it’s getting old.”

  “Can you really blame me for wanting my daughter to find a good husband? I want you to be looked after, and being able to see my grandkids someday wouldn’t be bad either.”

  She knew that where he was coming from was a place of love, but she couldn’t help but feel exasperated. There were no good men in this village, or at least none that she felt were right for her.

  “Dad, I promise that I will put in some effort to find a man, but I doubt it will happen here. Can you at least accept that?”

  He sighed with a disappointed half-smile. “Alright, alright, I’ll trust that you will not let your best years for marriage slip away from you. If I ever have cause to go to the city for supplies or business, I’ll be sure to bring you along so you may have the opportunity there.”

  She was glad that this was resolved without an argument, but she knew her father would only get more persistent if she failed to find a suitor by the time she turned eighteen. Those were concerns for another time, though, as she had more pressing matters to attend to.

  Subtly retrieving the concoction she made, Fiora packed her bag and slipped out of her home without issue. The forest, which she had walked through many times, was looking somewhat foreboding today. It was strange how knowledge could alter one’s perception so much. Taking a deep breathe, she steeled her nerves as she walked into the embrace of nature in search of monsters.

  Meanwhile, nestled in the mountainside, Daegal was in the middle of preparing a meal for himself. He had a collection of fish gathered from the river earlier this morning and was cooking them over a low fire tucked into the wall of the cave. A simple affair with only a few wild herbs to help flavor the meal.

  Speaking of his home, it had changed quite dramatically over the decade he had lived there. After the new village was built, Daegal had stolen a pickaxe in the dead of night and used it to carve out more room for himself. It was a lengthy project, but he had nothing but time and managed to create a series of holes to hold some select items or supplies, a flat sleeping area covered in many different pelts, and even a nook where a fire could crackle safely. It was roomy enough that he didn’t feel too cramped even with his size.

  While he waited for his food to cook, he tried his best to ignore the nagging voice of his roommate. He grumbled to himself before finally breaking the silence.

  “No, I don’t care to talk about it.”

  They were quite persistent.

  “Would you lay off me? It was only nerves. I don’t care about humans, and you know damn well why.”

  They weren’t convinced that was entirely true.

  “Shut up! Why must you insist upon dragging up things that are better left buried? If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it!”

  Silence filled the room while Daegal’s temper slowly cooled as he breathed deep. His eyes closed, and he began to feel bad.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I just don’t want to think about it anymore and that human wandering too close to home made me nervous. Can you forgive me?”

  Daegal turned to look at his roommate earnestly, and the little straw doll sitting in a square recess in the wall stared with a blank face back at him. Daegal huffed with a small grin on his face.

  “Thanks for understanding.” He grabbed the fish he had been cooking out of the fire, the heat not bothering him at all as he examined his meal. “At least the fish turned out alright today. You know I still haven’t quite forgiven you for distracting me so much that the last ones burned.”

  His roommate pouted and complained that he should forgive them now for such a simple mistake.

  Daegal chuckled. “Sure, sure, I’ll let it slide, this time. How about the next time you see something burning you let me...” he sniffed the air, “you let...” Daegal did the equivalent of a sensory double take as he started sniffing again, and more intently this time.

  There was a smell in the air, one that wasn’t the scent of cooked fish or any of the herbs he was currently using. Furrowing his brow, he took the fish off the fire before investigating the smell. It didn’t take long to figure out it was coming from outside as he followed his nose.

  Slipping out of the entrance, he was able to get a much better profile of the smell in the open air. It was familiar to him, stinking strongly of various herbs and something foul being barely hidden beneath it. Recognition came shortly after that, creating panic and frustration inside of him. The woman was back.

  She wasn’t close just yet as the scent of her was being carried on the wind, but it was clear that she was moving through his territory. One hand grabbed onto his horn while the other scratched at the surrounding stones nervously. His mind was racing, trying to think of how he was going to get rid of her.

  She had previously shown a complete disregard for the dangers of flying rocks, and even though he revealed himself, scaring her away personally, she had come back, again! Daegal could not fathom what madness was driving her back into his territory, but whatever the reason was, he was now stuck with the unenviable task of chasing her off once more. The only problem was that he didn’t know how he was going to do that.

  Daegal’s hands were already shaking just thinking about confronting her again. Threats against her were apparently not working, and it grew into a concern that he might be forced to actually harm her. He shouldn’t have cared, but he did. She didn’t do anything aggressive or violent that would warrant retaliation or punishment, and a part of him that he thought he had buried long ago resurfaced. His conscience.

  The very idea of hurting her gnawed at his insides, twisting them up and throwing him into a mild panic. Memories flashed in his mind of blood, fire and pain. His heart started to beat faster, sending blood rushing through his body as his stress began to grow. Before it could consume him completely, he pulled his hand away from the stones around the entrance to his home, balled his hand into a fist, and then punched the solid rock with a firm amount of force behind it.

  The dull ache in his fist allowed him to focus on the pain instead of the encroaching human. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he brought himself under control once more. She had been scared off last time by him simply showing up and growling a little. Maybe he could do it again if he acted a little more animalistic? He hoped that would be the case, because he didn’t know what he would do if she failed to be turned away this time.