“A… what? Where?” The guild commissioner’s jaw slacked a moment, blinking at he and Mouse. He chuckled nervously despite their straight faces. “You’re joking, yes?”

  “Why would we come all the way here to make a joke?” Mouse snipped. He clicked his tongue and walked a few paces away.

  Taiga smiled, leaning across the counter and blocking the commissioner’s view of his friend. “Unfortunately not. And I’m assuming by your reaction, this hasn’t happened before?”

  The commissioner studied Taiga a moment, before turning and scratching his head. “We’ll need to inform the guild master about this.” He spun back towards Taiga, “you didn’t let it escape, right?”

  “Speaking of. What is the lake creature?” He’d hoped to bring this up. In all his years traveling the continent, Taiga had never seen a creature of that size.

  “Ahhh,” the commissioner genuinely laughed this time. “Kikaua.”

  Taiga waited for more information, but when the commissioner only nodded, Taiga sighed, “which is?”

  “Right, you two are from the west. It’s a legend of a sort in these parts. They’re said to eat the wandering spirits of those who couldn’t ascend to the stars. They eat them, and drag them into the depths beneath the lake floor.”

  How unrealistic. Then again, the size of the creature and the size of the lake didn’t make sense. Something of such size had no way of flourishing in so small a space. And yet, it existed nonetheless.

  Likely, there was an underwater cave system or the lake itself was extremely deep. With the creature there, he’d be surprised if much exploration beneath the water’s surface had been done. Either way, it rid them of the demon for the time being. Taiga thanked it.

  “I need to let the guild master know about the appearance, wait here.” The commissioner walked from his counter, opening a door into the hallway, and making his way across the guildhall.

  Taiga took the moment to find Mouse. He’d wandered to the kitchen, talking to the cook. She dropped a handful of berries in his hand, which he smiled at excitedly. So, he could get along with people if he tried. The woman smiled at him as he hurried back to Taiga. He revealed his berries with a toothy grin.

  “They give you free stuff often.” Taiga noted. At least it kept him from stealing.

  Mouse nodded, placing a berry in his mouth. “The morning cook and this one are nice.”

  The guild master barreled towards them, her boots thunking hard on the wooden floor. Her eyes narrowed at them as she moved briskly. The commissioner followed behind her, staying a few paces back but keeping with her stride. Taiga bowed to greet her, and she nodded back.

  “You two again? What, are you just looking for trouble in Winolin? The attempted breach, Bearthatch, and now a demon in the woods?” Her voice held the same annoyed and rushed tone as when they’d met her in her office a few days prior. “Explain.”

  Taiga made sure to smile. “We were in the woods south of town, near the lake.”

  “Where the Kikaua lives,” the commissioner added. The guild master’s eyes darted to him and she nodded.

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  “It was on a tree. A big one. Not like the small ones from the day of the attack on the north wall.” Mouse plopped another berry onto his tongue. The guild master breathed deep as she watched him. Maybe too proud to ask for etiquette from him.

  “A larger demon? How?” She demanded obedience in her tone, though Mouse brushed it off with another berry.

  “I’m not sure. It was already there when we arrived. We pursued, and it jumped into the lake. It was devoured by the creature there. The Kikaua.” Taiga let the foreign term fall from his tongue.

  “It was the only one?” She pressed three fingers to her chin, tapping against it while she thought.

  “That we saw.”

  The guild master nodded. “Go back out there, ensure there’s no more demons. We can’t let the people be attacked in case there are more. I will contact Winolin’s governor and the authorities. Wait at the lake until I have more people dispatched there.”

  “What? Are we getting paid for—”

  Taiga slammed his hand over Mouse’s mouth. “Understood.”

  The guild master’s shoulders tensed at Mouse’s boldness, but softened to Taiga’s remedy. She looked them both up and down once more, before departing. She said something, and the commissioner hurried to her side to respond. Taiga watched she, the commissioner, and another person he thought to be her aide leave through the archway. Once out of sight, he relaxed.

  “Are you trying to cause problems?” He chided Mouse, who gulped the last of his berries.

  Mouse blinked at him, “what problems? Hey, why are we doing this for free? Don’t you always like getting money?”

  “Yes, but in exchange of making the guild master of Winolin angry? Not worth it. Besides, volunteering to help will only do us good in the long run.”

  Mouse grumbled ‘what long run’, but Taiga ignored him as they left. He untied Sweet Bun from the post he’d left her at, and they made their way back towards the lake. When they arrived, the sun hung high in the sky, with only a few clouds keeping it company.

  Taiga led them back to where he’d napped, and pressed a hand to the tree. “Thank you for shading me.” He skimmed his fingertips over the bark.

  “Should we make sure that demon isn’t still alive?” Mouse’s eyes rolled over the water’s surface.

  Taiga slipped his boots off and rolled his pant legs up. The chilled wind paused him, his skin tensing up. He walked a meter or so into the water before dunking his head into it. From afar, he made out the body of a large shadow swimming downward. Likely the Kikaua.

  Mouse yanked back on him, nearly lifting him up and dragging him out of the water. “What??” Taiga pulled free.

  “That.” Mouse pointed out at a line of fins dipping into the water, heading in their direction.

  But he’d seen one further off, descending. So then… “There's more than one of these things in here?”

  “I thought its name was Kikaua, not their name.” Mouse put an arm ahead of Taiga, pushing him back a bit further from the water’s edge.

  “Alright. The demon is dead. That’s that. We’re not investigating the water any further.” Taiga was a being of the land and plants. Watery things were in the domain of the sirens. He had zero interest in finding out how the Kikaua creatures would respond to him, and being eaten certainly wasn’t worth the risk.

  “Look on the upside.” Mouse drew his eyes beyond Taiga, back towards the forest. “At least we don’t have to go looking around for another demon.”

  “What,” he didn’t bother finishing the sentence. Taiga turned, following Mouse’s gaze to another black creature watching them from the branch of an ash tree. Blue steam bellowed from a smile. Such dense magics kept it steady on healthy grounds.

  How?

  Its thistles clicked and spurred. Sweet Bun leapt behind him, shoulders lurching back and tense. She barked at it, though unsteady her resolve showed in her eyes. Taiga stepped in front of her, pulling his wooden sword back out.

  Anytime the thing wanted to turn metal, he’d be ready. But until then, he’d use force to keep the demon back if needed. Mouse ran forward, leaping at it just as the demon arched its back and whipped a long tail at them. The tail swiped right into Mouse’s side, black and blue thistles piercing through his tunic.