“What did you have to do?” Bjorn asked once they were half an hour out of Vanta and heading south.

  “Oh nothing too important. I just made sure that your pal Greg would be leaving Vanta, soon, of his own choice.”

  Bjorn stopped in his tracks and looked at Tayla. She had a mischievous look on her face. “I thought you promised you would tell me before you did something.”

  “I did. But I had my fingers crossed. Besides, I found out some unsavory things about your little friend.” Her words piqued the interest of other members of the party.

  “What kind of unsavory things?” Alaric asked.

  “Nothing too major. Expect that Greg wasn’t his true name. It was an alias that he took on as soon as he came to Vanta. His real name was Tony Sparksprocket, not that his real name really matters. What does matter was that he was a wanted criminal by the law. Apparently in the capital he was wanted for 3 counts of rape, 2 counts of murder, 11 counts of tax evasion, and 1 count of an unpaid fine.”

  It wasn’t the fact that ‘Greg’ was a wanted criminal that surprised Bjorn. What surprised him was the amount of crimes that he was wanted for, what crimes he was wanted for, and the number of times he committed each crime. “Hold up. Are you sure those numbers are correct? Besides, he didn’t look harmful, rather weak actually. How was he able to murder two different people?”

  Tayla nodded her head. “Completely certain. I have three separate people check for me to make sure. They all came back with the exact same story. Each count of rape was with a different girl, and each girl it happened multiple times.” Tayla got a disgusted look on her face and she spit as if she was trying to get a sour taste out of her mouth. “They were all young. Between the ages of 11 and 17. As to your other question, it is surprisingly easy to sneak up and kill even the strongest person while they slept. Everyone is vulnerably while they are asleep.”

  Bjorn immediately began to picture the two girls that he had under his care. Gisabell wasn’t that good looking, her nose was large and rather misshapen. But the young elf whose name was Lisa wasn’t overly attractive yet. She had the kind of young kind sculpted face that would lead to a beautiful woman when she was full grown. The thought of that monster of a man doing something to her just made his blood boil.

  His thoughts must have been evident on his face because Tayla put her hand on his chest. “Don’t worry. Through my digging I am pretty sure he never laid his hands on either of them. Instead he was just exploiting them for profit. He was claiming to teach them how to be alchemists but what he was really doing was taking any potion that they would brew and sell them either around town or at the black market. None of their labors lead to them making anything from their work.”

  “So how are you sure that he will be leaving town?” Rickie asked.

  “Hold on, I am getting to that part.” She pulled a small bag from her waist and threw it to Bjorn who deftly caught it. The familiar sound of coin hitting coins sounded through the air. “That is the profits from that poison you gave him by the way. As soon as he left with your poison he took it to market and sold the vial for a tidy profit. Anyways, after I found out what he was doing I then was able to find out where he lived. He was a rather paranoid man, understandably.”

  “From there it took a little digging to figure out how he owned the lab without linking it to his true name. He purchased it under another fake alias and paid for it right out with cash. It was the same story with all of the supplies he used to stock the lab. This degree of separation should actually help out your little students Bjorn. It took a lot of digging to find the connection. So when the authorities find him they won’t likely find out about the lab and seize it. So they should be able to use it for a very long time before someone begins to question if the kids actually have the rights to work in that lab. They should have a long time to practice their craft before it becomes an issue.”

  “Well that's good at least.” Meira said.

  “Indeed. Anyways that was everything that I was able to find out about that little monster. So I decided to do a few things before we left town. First off I broke into the lab and left a note detailing what happened to Greg and his deeds. I also reassured them that they could continue to do alchemy in the building for a long while before anyone should come knocking. Next up I paid Greg a little visit. Lets just say that his home security was not up to the task of keeping out a professed rogue.” She said this last part with an evil grin.

  “What did you do to him?” Meira asked.

  “Nothing too bad. I just made sure that he wouldn’t ever have the desire to touch any woman ever again. Even if he had the desire to do so he wouldn’t have the equipment to do anything about it.” She could see the confusion on the boy’s faces, so even though she could see understanding in Meira’s eyes she decided to elaborate. “Do you know what gelding is?” When they didn’t reply she had to further elaborate. “I sawed off his dick and balls.”

  That registered with the guys of the group. Their hands all unconsciously drifted down to their manhood and held them there as if to reassure themselves that they were still attached. “It would take a skilled healing mage to reattach them, and unfortunately for him, where he is going, he won’t be getting that aid anytime soon. I also had someone tip off the authorities in town so as I was leaving his premises I passed them on the street. From there I made my way down to the gate and met up with you guys.” She finished her story almost jovially.

  “How did you have time to do all of this?” Bjorn asked.

  She looked at him and gave him an innocent wink. “I do my best work in the middle of the night. Do you want to find out?” A lecherous smile crossed her lips before she started walking down the road once again. She was soon followed by Meira and right behind her was Rickie.

  Alaric leaned over and whispered to Bjorn. “That is one scary woman. I am glad that she is on our side.”

  Bjorn nodded in agreement. The pair shared a look and then followed after her.

  They had decided that instead of traveling through the forest to get to their destination as they had before, this time they stuck to the road. As they progressed deeper and deeper into the heart of the Summergate forest the trees began to grow taller, thicker, and denser. It wasn’t long before the road they traveled was almost no safer than the forest surrounding it. And they would get attacked almost daily by creatures and monsters. Although it was an annoyance, it wasn’t anything ever life threatening as they traveled.

  As they drew nearer to the serrated mountains the trees still continued to grow bigger and more gnarly. Population centers became more and more scarce as they traveled. They didn’t truly know where exactly they were going, they had a rough direction they had to head in so they stuck with that direction as they followed the road. Every town they came across they would stop and find out if anyone knew of a town called Nontorum. They never did, so they would stock up on anything that they needed and head onwards. Eventually they did come across a town where they knew the name Nontorum and they got directions from that old man.

  It was three weeks later when they found themselves on a steep narrow road that led up into the serrated mountains. There were signs all around them that Bjorn began to recognize. At first it wasn’t anything important, then it would be a small tree here that he hadn’t seen since he left the mountains. Then it was a herb there, then a small armadillo-like creature that was native to where he and Medera lived.

  It was difficult to explain but as he saw more and more signs of his first year in the Eld it made him more and more nervous. He was forced to leave the Serrated mountains in less than stellar circumstances. The only person he had really known was just killed, and then he became a slave to a half hyena half human creature. It wasn’t pleasant memories, all of those feelings and thoughts that he once had were coming to the surface, plaguing his waking thoughts.

  Then one day around mid-day they came across another small settlement, it was less than 100 people who lived there. At the gate there were two guards, as it was both of them had heard of Nontorum. Their search was coming to an end. Upon further questioning they were let into town, and directed to the only two story building in town. It was where their de facto mayor lived, and he would have access to a map that could lead them to Nontorum.

  An hour later they found themselves leaving that town 1 map to Nontorum richer and 3 silvers poorer. They thought that the mayor could sense their need for direction to Nontorum and used that desperation to fleece them for all that he could get out of it.

  Luckily for them there was only a 3 day trip between the two towns. All that they had to do was skirt around the edge of two large mountains that the “Road.” ran around the outside of.

  Finally after almost a month of travel after leaving Vanta they crested a small outcropping in the side of the mountain that the road followed and before them in a small valley sat Nontorum. Looking down at it Bjorn recognized the terraced fields of a surprisingly well engineered irrigation system. The palisade wall that once looked so formidable to his untrained eyes. The open field along one side of the city inside the palisade wall. And finally the large building that stood as Nontorum’s tavern, and where Bjorn would find the object of this quest, Brumhilda.

  It was odd to see the small town again. It was quaint and yet it carried with it a sense of dread. So much had happened to him since he last saw this small town. He had grown so much, and yet he feared to tell Brumhilda of Medera’s fate. During his travels he had found strength and magic’s beyond his imagination. He had seen monsters and creatures of nightmares, and through it all he had found a family in the wake of the first one he lost.

  Meira crested the outcropping and came to a stop right beside Bjorn. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Is that it?”

  Instead of answering he just nodded.

  She called over her shoulder. “Hey guys, we made it.”

  “Thank fuck!” Alaric said loudly. “If I have to stop walking to get another rock out of my boot I am going to throw something off a cliff.”

  Rickie was the next one at the top. He noticed Bjorn being unusually quiet. “Are you okay friend?” as he placed his bunch of bananas that he called a hand on Bjorn’s other shoulder.

  “Yeah, I will be fine. Come on, let's go. The inn here has baths that are to die for.”

  There was a chorus of excited cheers and exclamations at that. It had been weeks since they had the chance to really take a nice bath. The closest they had come to a bath was almost sponge bathing themselves in cold small streams that they passed. They made their way down to the well manicured fields and the odd farmer here and there that was walking through checking their crops and pulling weeds.

  They soon found themselves before the gates to Nontorum where they were stopped by a familiar sight to Bjorn. There were two guards standing before the gate, one an elf, the other a dwarf. They had small short swords that hung from their belts, with daggers on the opposite hip. They each held small plain but solidly built spears loosely in their hands. They were also clad in light, but sturdy leather armor. When Bjorn last saw this sight he wasn’t aware of the quality of the weapons and armor that these guards wore, his now more experienced eye could easily see that even though it looked plain, the gear was nothing of the sort.

  The elf spotted them approaching and moved to bar their way. This time instead of the dwarf coming to their aid he stayed in his position warily looking at the strange group of people he didn’t recognize at all.

  “State your business in Nontorum.” The elf said.

  It was Rickie who decided to speak up for the group. “We are travelers, we seek to spend the evening in your inn, I believe it was called the Dancing Dog. One of our party here has some business with the innkeeper there.”

  “And what kind of business would that be?” The dwarf spoke up for the first time.

  Finally Bjorn decided to speak up. “Hello Etri, I doubt you remember me.” Bjorn moved forward in the group and let the dwarf get a clear view of him. “My name is Bjorn Ward, and I was the human that Medera brought with her to market two years ago in the fall.” He took in a breath to say something else but he was cut off.

  “Well I'll be.” Etri said in a disbelieving tone. “You don’t look much like him. You have gotten taller, you have filled out in the shoulders. But you look close enough to him for that to be plausible.” He stood and took an offensive stance, but he didn’t lower his weapon. “What happened to Medera?”

  Bjorn, who would have been intimidated by such a display years ago wasn’t even phased by the dwarf’s bravado. “I believe the first person here in town who deserves to know the answer to that question is Brumhilda.”

  He could see Etri deflate at the mention of the orc barkeep. After a moment he nodded. “Aye, that she does. You are right son. You are free to go. I know it has been years since you have made it here. But it is good to see you. You know where to find her, I too will find you there tonight.”

  He stepped to the side and his fellow elf guard did as well. They made their way inside the city. As Bjorn passed by Etri he clasped his hand on the dwarfs shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. When Bjorn did that motion the dwarfs face fell. He didn’t have to hear Bjorn say it, but he knew in that motion that Bjorn was admitting what he didn’t want to believe. That Medera was well and truly dead.

  The streets were mostly deserted as they made their way deeper into the town. Which ultimately made sense. For the most part most of the people who lived in Nontorum were farmers and miners. With stone being their main export. With it being midday most of the people would be out working. They made their way up the street heading towards the big open field which was used for their twice yearly market. At the end of the street they just had to take a right turn and they were practically at the Dancing Dog.

  His friends let him lead the way. So Bjorn pushed open the door letting light spill into the not very well lit interior. There were a few lanterns dotted around the interior of the bar, but most of the light came pouring in through two windows that had been set on the front of the bar facing the street they just came in from.

  As soon as he entered he saw the familiar form of Brumhilda leaning over the bar with a bored expression on her face. She had been absent mindedly rubbing a cloth on the bar top polishing an already spotless bar.

  “Welcome to the Dancing Dog. What can I d-...” Her voice trailed off as she took in her guests. She didn’t notice anyone else other than Bjorn. Her eyes locked onto his face as if she was hoping for something but couldn’t believe her eyes. In a shaky voice she spoke up. “Bjorn is that you?”

  “It is Brumhilda.” He said in a deadpan voice. He wasn’t sure what her reaction was going to be. If she had held true to her word when he last saw her she made her way out to Medera’s hut and likely found it in ruins.

  The orc deftly vaulted over the bar. “Oh, it is good to see you. Come over here.” She rushed over to where Bjorn was standing, arms spread wide. She pulled him in for a rough embrace. He could hear the tears in her voice. “When I found Medera’s hut empty I feared the worst. I thought I would never see one of you ever again.”

  She pulled herself away from Bjorn and for the first time noticed the 4 other people who were standing there awkwardly. She cleared her throat and wiped a tear away from her eye. “I am sorry about that. I am Brumhilda.”

  Thankful he had something to distract him from the thoughts rushing through his head. “Yeah, sorry. These are my friends, Alaric, Tayla, Rickie, and last but not least, Meira.”

  “It is a pleasure. I am sure you have traveled from far to get here, I know the look of the road dust. Come, let me get you some rooms and you can go down and wash up. We can talk when you all are ready.”

  Without waiting for a response she walked back around the edge of the bar and pulled out 5 keys. She handed them over and when only three were taken she gave a smile and stored the last two keys. It all happened so fast that Bjorn was in a daze. He and his friends went and stored their packs and pulled out new clean clothes. They then followed Bjorn as he led them to the baths.

  Rickie and Tayla took their own room, Alaric his own, and he and Meira climbed into one of the amazing baths. It was just as he remembered it. Large, luxurious, and able to get any temperature water on demand. As he sat in the water he reveled in the wonders that this place held. In the two years since he came to the Eld, these were the best baths he had come across, and he missed them.

  “Are you okay?” Meira asked him after she let him relax for a bit.

  “Yeah, I think so. It is weird. This entire time that we were traveling here I played out hundreds of different ways that this meeting could have gone. And I have to say, none of my scenarios ever played out as this did. Her and Medera were as close as one could be. They were best friends, and cared deeply for each other. I didn’t expect her to welcome me back with open arms, especially when I didn’t come back with Medera.”

  Bjorn paused as he worked through his thoughts. Meira just let him process. “I don’t know. It is almost as if it would have been better for her to be angry and accuse me of leaving her. The kindness and welcoming nature is almost worse. It makes me feel like I failed Medera. I know there was nothing I could have done for her. I was weak when she found me, I had zero survival skills, I could barely run even a half mile without bottoming out my stamina. I was as hopeless as a new born baby, but maybe if I had given myself up she would have lived. Maybe she would have been the one in this situation instead of me. I know I shouldn’t feel guilty for being alive but some part of me does.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Meira didn’t say anything and she let Bjorn ramble. When it seemed like he ran out of steam she wrapped her arms around Bjorn. “I think ultimately you did the right thing. She told you to run, you did. She tried to buy time for you to escape. If the creature you faced was as strong as you say it was, there was nothing you could have done against it. In that moment she made a decision to try and save your life when she knew hers was already over. I think she knew that if you survived you would be a good force in this world, there aren't enough of those going around. I think that if she could see you now and see all that you have achieved she would be proud of you.”

  “Yeah you’re probably right, but I guess I will never actually know.” He sighed. “Well we can't stay in the bath forever, should we go and talk to Brumhilda, and fill her in on my life and what happened to her friend?”

  They got dressed in their clean clothes and started to make their way up the stairs back out into the afternoon sun. When they entered the bar they found Brumhilda sitting at the same table her, Medera, and Bjorn shared while they were staying at the bar. She had a small figurine that he had watched Medera carve in between brewing sessions. As he drew nearer he could see that her eyes were bloodshot and the flesh around her eyes was puffy as if she had been crying.

  Bjorn sat down across from where she was sitting. “How are you doing?” He asked her

  She sniffled. “I think I am fine. It is weird, I am thankful to see you. It is great to find that you are alive, I am happy that you have made it this far. And at the same time all of the feelings of grief that I had for the loss of Medera are coming back to haunt me. I thought they were long gone. But seeing your face today brought them back to the surface.”

  “I know the feeling. I have been struggling with them for the last week as we drew nearer to Nontorum. I feared how you would react. I will be completely honest with you, this isn’t how I expected this conversation to go.”

  They both fell silent as they worked through their own thoughts. After 5 minutes Brumhilda broke that silence. “You look like you have done well for yourself since I last saw you.” She looked Bjorn up and down. “You are no longer that scrawny kid that was following Medera around. It looks like you have hit a growth spurt. You put on probably 40 lbs. of muscle, and you carry yourself differently. When I first met you, you were lanky and awkward. Now it seems like you are grounded in your body, like you know who and what you are. You have a confidence in you that I never saw when you were with Medera.” She put on a smile her big lower jaw tusks becoming emphasized with the rest of her teeth coming out. “It is a good look for you.”

  “Thank you Brumhilda. You look the exact same as when I last was here. Old, grey, and I think I can hear you creak when you move.”

  Meira snorted from where she sat.

  She let out a full belly laugh. “You cheeky little bastard.” Once she got her laughter under control her face grew somber once again. “Tell me how it happened. How did Medera die?”

  Bjorn began speaking. He held nothing back. He first started telling her about his winter with Medera and what they worked on, he told her about the gnome that was being possessed by the grimoire and how exactly Medera had reacted to it. From there he told her about their preparations to come back to Nontorum to make it to market. Then he told her how they were actually very unlucky. As soon as they were about to leave Medera’s cottage they were set upon by the mauler. He told her how she was killed by the mauler while fighting it, which wasn’t exactly the truth, her fight ended rather quickly. But he figured it was a small kindness that he could give the orc, letting her think her friend went down swinging.

  “Aye. That sounds exactly like Medera, she was never one to give up on a fight.” She furrowed her brow. “We have heard rumors about such a beast as you have described, it is large, black, and has multiple limbs, all kind of amorphous and has unnatural movements. Its maw is filled with a purple light. Does that sound correct? That was what killed her?”

  “Yeah, Medera called it a mauler, so that is exactly what I figured they were called.”

  “I haven’t heard of these beasts before.” Meira said.

  Brumhilda leaned in towards Meira. “That’s because they are rare and they are, as far as I know, only native to the serrated mountains. They are deadly creatures and not one to be underestimated. The one that Bjorn and Medera killed was only a juvenile one and it was more than a match to almost kill Bjorn, at least that was how Medera described it. There isn’t much known about maulers and their capabilities as most people who fight fully grown ones die.”

  She turned her gaze towards Bjorn. “As to why I wanted confirmation. People claim to have seen a large shape moving through the night, and occasionally we see a purple light off in the distance on one of the many peaks surrounding us. I thought it was a mauler, but we didn’t know for certain. With yours's and Medera’s encounter with the mauler I am willing to bet my life that the light we have been seeing is in fact a mauler.”

  The orc shook her head and stood, she walked around the bar and started to pour drinks. Throughout the conversation his friends had slowly trickled to the table where the three of them had been sitting and out of respect for what they were saying kept quiet. Brumhilda poured 6 cups of a stout dark ale and brought them over, handing them out for everyone to have a drink.

  Sitting back down she took a drink from her cup. “Enough of that. Tell me your story since Medera’s death.”

  And so he did. He started to tell Brumhilda his story after Medera’s death. Normally when he recounted what happened he told the story short matter of factly. Not this time, he took a little circuitous route to telling the story. He first spent time recounting all of the training Medera had put him through and all of the skills he had learned from her. He wanted to make sure Brumhilda knew the impact that Medera had on his continued survival.

  From there he told her his whole story, gritty details, successes, failures, progress and losses. He went into detail in some parts where Rickie and Tayla hadn’t even gotten the full story yet. For Brumhilda she deserved to know the truth. So he gave it unabridged. As he told his story he watched Brumhilda intently, trying to gauge her reaction. Throughout the entire story she was the perfect listener, not once did it look like her attention wandered off.

  He did his best to recount his story as closely and raw as he could remember, in a few places Alaric and Meira helped fill in some important detail he forgot in his recounting. Then as the story went on soon Tayla was able to add to the events, and lastly Rickie. When he finished speaking he took note of the expression on Brumhilda’s face. It was pride.

  “There isn’t much in this world that I truly know. But there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty. And that is that Medera would have been proud of the man you have become. You have done so much good and helped so many people with the skills that she taught you.” She paused speaking and finished her drink. “Ultimately that is all that we hope for. I know it was what she hoped for. As teachers we can only hope that our students do more good in this world than we could ever do ourselves. You know she told me exactly that as you were leaving here.

  I asked her, “What do you see in that kid? Why is he worth the effort?” What she told me has stuck with me throughout the last year. “I don’t know. I don’t know why I saved him and took him in. He isn’t a good fighter, he is a shitty alchemist, and his cooking isn’t worth a damn. But there is just something about him that makes me think that he will do great things.” I know she would have been proud, because you have lived up to her expectations.”

  Bjorn smiled, his heart warm with the kind words that Brumhilda had shared. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

  She returned his smile and after a few seconds stood, and walked around the table. She pulled Bjorn in for another long hug. When they broke apart she kept a hold of his arms. “You are welcome here anytime, you never have to worry about a place to stay in Nontorum. While you are here you won’t ever have to pay for anything that I own either. You were like the son Medera never had, so the way I see it you are my nephew.”

  She cleared her throat and once again wiped tears away from her eyes. “I need to make dinner. You have traveled a long way, at least let me make you a warm meal. You will be staying for a few days won’t you?”

  Bjorn thought about it. “We will probably stay her for at least a night or two. After I would like to go visit Medera’s old cabin, I think it would be good for closure. After that I think we will be heading on though. Rickie has a bone to pick with some goblins, and we want to help him find those answers he is looking for.”

  “Of course. I think I will close the bar tonight, just keep it between us this evening. Tomorrow night I would like to hold a service to Medera though, and invite the town if you are okay with that?”

  “Totally, I think that is a great idea.” Bjorn said.

  “Anyways, let me make you some dinner.”

  Rickie stood, and so did Meira. “Here let me help you with that.” Rickie said. “I’ll gladly help in the kitchen.” Meira said.

  The rest of that night was spent getting Brumhilda acquainted with Bjorn’s new family. Everyone told a little bit of their story before they got roped in with Bjorn and antics. It was great, Brumhilda was the best kind of host, taking care of everyone and watching their needs. All while making sure everyone was included, even though she didn’t have to worry about that.

  That next day they spend it getting ready to host the majority of the town. They cooked, cleaned, made space, and just spruced up the place. Brumhilda made an announcement about the wake for Medera. That night almost everyone in town showed up and many stories, both sad and happy were told about their local crazy hermit alchemist and the strange boy she brought to market that one year. The stories lasted well into the night.

  The next morning they got up relatively early and got prepared to make the trek to Medera’s old cabin deep in the serrated mountains. It was a 4 day journey to the east to get there so they didn’t waste any time and wanted to get on their way. Brumhilda gave them a warm, sad goodbye and wished them luck on their journey. She made them all promise that if they were ever in this part of the world again they would come by and see her. Collectively they all agreed that they would. As they made their way through the streets heading to the gate they got stopped several times by various townsfolk they past, they all wished them well and safe travels.

  Although Bjorn had only ever made the trek once to get from Medera’s cabin to Nontorum he mostly remembered the exact path to get there. It was almost perfect except for a single wrong turn that took them a half a day in the wrong direction which added a day to their trip. In the end it took them 5 days to make it from Nontorum to The site of Medera’s cabin. As they drew nearer Bjorn began to recognize the area more and more.

  Eventually they broke through the tree line to find the small hillside clearing that Medera’s cabin was situated on. It had been over a year, almost a year and a half since Bjorn had last been here, and the tough mountain foliage was already reclaiming the space that Medera had kept clear.

  It was all mostly here, at least the skeleton of the buildings were there. The rough winter and summers had not been kind to the small clearing. All of the organic materials that had made up the cabin had started to rot away. The roof had collapsed on one of its corners. When he explored it, it was mostly exactly how they had left it. And memories came flooding back to him. Needing some time he left the cabin and moved on to their storage shed. Inside everything was still intact, it was just layered with a coating of dust. Something she had been meticulous about removing.

  The smoker was completely demolished, as that was where they had kept their food. He wasn’t sure if it was the mauler or another creature that came along later and destroyed their hard work but the walls had collapsed, the stone walls lay in heaps. There was a vague shape of what the building had once been. But inside there was not even a hint of the years worth of food that had once been stored there.

  Medera’s garden was completely overgrown and many of the more delicate herbs had been choked out by the more aggressive plants. So the only things left were the more common herbs that could be found all over the forest floor.

  One thing that had lasted the test of time so far was the stone paths that Bjorn had labored so hard to make; the coarse gravel did its job to stop the plants from growing within them. And in the center of it all was the well that Medera had dug most likely through magic, even though she would never admit it. The stones that had been piled up all around the outside of the well had collapsed on one side.

  Through it all his eyes kept getting drawn to the place where he last saw Medera. Where her bisected corpse had landed. Although there were no signs that indicated where that was he would never forget. Slowly he started to pick up stones one at a time and walk them over to her final resting place and he set them down.

  He knew that he could have done it faster, but the slow methodical pace that he took and the project he had in mind distracted his mind. It was helpful to help him slowly process his emotions. Soon he was joined By Alaric, as he picked up stones and wordlessly started placing them with Bjorn. Then it was Meira. Then Rickie. And lastly it was Tayla. They worked silently, each of them slowly moving one or two stones at a time, taken from piles all over the clearing.

  They built a small mount of stone a little larger than the shape and size of Medera’s fully intact corpse right where she had fallen. Bjorn had to do only a few adjustments but they built the cairn exactly how her upper body had landed.

  When they finished piling the stone Bjorn took a knee right above where her head would have been placed. He put his hand on the stone and whispered. “Thank you Medera, I will never forget you. Goodbye my friend. I hope wherever you are now is a wonderful place.”

  He held his hand on the pile of stone for a few seconds before he stood. He turned towards his friends and in a raspy voice he said. “It is time to go.” Without looking back he started walking. He made his way north eastward.

  Late in the evening something didn’t quite feel right about their surroundings. It had been hours since they left Medera’s cabin clearing and they traveled in silence. He couldn’t put his finger on it but something just felt off. They were traveling in their normal way for an uninhabited area full of monsters. Meira traveled towards the center of the pack with Alaric in the front, Rickie in the back, and either Bjorn or Tayla to either side of her. Bjorn and Tayla took turns being the scout of the party. They would range afield but normally not too far, they stayed within Bjorn’s sphere of influence.

  This time it was Tayla who was the scout for the party. “Guys. Something is wrong, the forest is too quiet, and I think there is something big out here. We should either pick up the pace or head back. I don’t like this.”

  “I didn’t really want to say anything about this, but I am feeling uneasy as well.” Bjorn thought back telepathically to the party.

  “What do we do?” Alaric asked.

  “I think we should pick up the pace and rush forward. If both Bjorn and Tayla are feeling this way we need to get the hell out of here. I trust their guts.” Rickie thought.

  “Heard, I am heading back to you.”

  Less than a minute later Tayla rejoined the group and with them all in close proximity to one another they picked up the pace. Before they were walking in a brisk walk, now they broke into a light jog.

  They jog for ten minutes before mentally they heard Tayla’s voice. “Stop, get down.”

  After months of traveling together they have learned to listen to one another and have learned to trust what each other said. So when Tayla told them to stop they stopped. It was nearing dusk and the sun had just fallen behind the horizon. There was still enough light to see by but that wasn’t going to last long.

  After a minute of waiting they hear a sharp snap from the way they came. All eyes turned to see the path behind them. Tayla was the one to see it first. A dim purple light. “I can’t make it out, but based on the purple light I am willing to bet that is the mauler that Brumhilda talked about.”

  A few seconds after Tayla said that Bjorn was able to make out a faint purple light off in the distance the way they came. The light was heading their way. It didn’t take long for everyone to see it. The light made it’s way through the underbrush of the forest. It was getting closer.

  As the light grew stronger Bjorn’s heart rate began to race. What if it was the mauler? What if it found them? Could they take it? It killed Medera easily, would it kill his new family too?

  Meira’s hand found Bjorn’s in the low light and they locked fingers, her hands were trembling, which matched Bjorn's.

  They didn’t have time to exchange words as there came another snap as the monster drew nearer. Soon they were finally able to make the shape of the creature out in the low light. It was just as Bjorn feared. It was 9 feet tall, it had a large amorphas body that looked to be drinking in the light around it. The way the moved forward was it pulled in one of its 8 limbs into his body which melded seamlessly with the body itself. The rest of the limbs rotated back so there was a free spot again at the front of the body. The final limb reformed and came down onto the ground. It was for sure a mauler.

  It drew closer and closer. At first when they could make it out the creature was roughly 500 yards away. It came to 400, then 300, then 100. Soon it was within easy bow shot range. It’s movements were slow and deliberate. At first it looked like it was on a direct collision course with the party, as it drew nearer it looked like it would pass near, but not directly on top of them.

  Its large heavy form began to slide past where they were hiding. As it drew nearer the sense of dread started to become overwhelming, and Bjorn’s shaking hand had spread to the rest of his body. He was shivering uncontrollably.

  The form of the mauler started to slide past their position, and began to walk away. Bjorn let out just the smallest of breaths, hoping that the mauler couldn’t hear. The distance between them grew, it had passed within 30 feet of their position.

  When it got to around 100 yards away Alaric’s voice sounded quietly in their heads. “Let’s back up slowly and go back the way we came.”

  As soon as Alaric’s voice sounded in their heads the mauler stopped in its tracks. It slowly rotated it’s body so the soft purple light emanating from its mouth was directed towards the party. Everyone tensed up and held their breath. There was a tense brief moment before an ear splitting sound that plagued Bjorn’s nightmares came out of the mauler’s mouth and it charged.

  Realizing that the game was up the party sprung into action. Rickie and Alaric charged forward to meet the monster head on. Tayla was right behind them but only a few steps behind as she always was. It was best for her not to be the first in combat. Meira started to move backwards and cast her spells. And Bjorn began casting a spell of his own.

  It took a few tries because of his shaking hands but eventually Bjorn finished casting simple light. He cast the spell forward to try and illuminate the battle. As it was dusk they were rapidly losing light and as such they would soon be at a disadvantage.

  By the time he finished casting his spell Alaric and Rickie had met the mauler in combat. It slammed into Rickie, sending him backwards. At least it would have, if not for Alaric using his talent, and the two men switched places. Alaric’s heavy compact body let him absorb most of the impact and was only pushed back a few feet instead of getting sent sprawling.

  Rickie activated one of his talents, one that he rarely used even though he was a professed barbarian. He went into a rage. It was hard to describe the changes that he went through. The one most prominent change that made it easy to tell when a barbarian raged was that their iris’s turned into a glowing red light. As he moved there were small streaks of red light left behind as his body surged forward.

  Meira finished casting her first spell and a pale yellow light engulfed Alaric and his movement became noticeably faster. As soon as she finished casting her weak haste spell she switched and started casting a lightning bolt.

  Tayla rushed in to attack the monster after it’s momentum was stopped dead in its tracks. Her blinking form shot forward delivering deadly poisoned coated strikes with her dual daggers to the limbs of the mauler, but it didn’t seem to notice.

  In a few seconds things seemed to be going their way, They had managed to stall the monster, Rickie and Tayla were on the offensive. Meira was casting her spell, and Bjorn had switched to his most recent addition. After casting his spell he had pulled his bow from his bag of holding and he pulled arrows that he had prepped with the neurotoxin that he had made. He started to pepper the large creature.

  The mauler had a few tricks up its sleeve though. It took a sweeping strike at Rickie with one of its limbs that morphed into a scythe. Rickie was plenty agile though and dodged under the swing. The monster had given the swing its all and it ended its movement almost 90 degrees to its left. This put its mouth in Tayla’s direction.

  The purple light in the monster's mouth intensified greatly, almost to a blinding degree. A strong suction force was emitted in the direction its mouth was facing. Tayla resisted the suction force at first, but she wasn’t able to resist for long. Her body flew through the air and she flew head first into the mouth of the mauler. There was a sickening crunch as the mauler bit down on Tayla’s upper body. The remains of her corpse fell from the mouth of the beast. A huge section from her right shoulder all the way down to the bottom of her left rib cage was missing. The remainder of her body and left arm fell uselessly to the ground.