Vero realized she was alone.

Still involuntarily shaking in terror, she opened her eyes.

“Mama?” Vero picked herself up and crawled unsteadily to where she thought she had last seen Mama, but in the tall grass she couldn’t find her, and she couldn’t think why Mama wasn’t looking for her.

“Ma- ma.” Vero tried to shout, but her voice was caught in her throat like in a nightmare. She tried again. “Where are you, Mama?”

“Here. Here.” Vero could hear a weak whisper and followed it.

She passed through a wall of grass and found Mama. She was lying on her back in a spreading pool of blood, her arm was twisted under her at a horrible angle, and her skin was scorched and black in places. Her breathing was labored and Vero could see exposed ribs protruding from her chest.

“Mama? What do I do, Mama?”

“Vero? I can’t see you.”

Vero sat down and took Mama’s good hand in hers. “I’m here Mama. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

“Are you safe? Are you hurt?”

“No, Mama. I’m not hurt, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix you.”

“Listen to me, I love you, Veronique. Do you understand?”

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry Mama- I didn’t mean-”

“Not your… listen, Vero. Tell the others- tell them I love them too. Virgil, Antoine, Yvette, your father… tell them I love them…”

“Mama, you have to teach me. I don’t know the prayers to heal you. It’s my fault, but I don’t know how to fix it… Mama?”

“Vero… love you…”

“I love you too Mama- need to teach me- don’t know the prayer…”

Mama didn’t say anything. Vero couldn’t hear her rasping for breath any longer.

“Mama? Say something to me.” Vero squeezed Mama’s hand, but she didn’t move. “My fault… I’m sorry! Mama!” Vero pulled Mama’s arm more forcefully, but there was still no reply. “I’m sorry! Don’t leave me, Mama! Don’t leave! I’m sorry!”

Vero cried against Mama’s chest and tried to pull Mama’s arm around her, but it just fell limp.

She was not sure how long she cried.

It should have been you. It’s all your fault. Mama died because of you.

“Don’t know how to fix- don’t know how…” Vero had to speak aloud to know what she was thinking.

If you had stayed in the temple, Mama would still be alive. You killed her.

“Someone knows- Father knows- Father knows… what to do…”

Vero stood up and began to walk, although she hardly knew where she was going. There were tracks she was following, but she had no notion if she was following them forwards or backwards. Only that she must follow them, and could not stop for anything.

He’ll know it’s your fault. They’ll all know you killed her.

It was tremendously hot, but Vero could not stop herself from shivering and her legs trembled under her with every step. Her mouth was dry, but she continued to repeat her task over and over to herself, because she feared that if she stopped, she might forget it. “Find Father. Father will fix it. Find Father. Father will know what to do.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

You should have been the one to die. You deserve it.

Vero marched and marched through unchanging fields for what felt like an eternity, until she heard the sounds of men and horses ahead of her. Smoke was visible on the horizon and she could smell the burning.

Burning. Like Mama.

Vero thought she must have been close, but the distance between her and the hunting party just kept going and going. There was shouting, but when she came closer, Vero heard moaning underneath it. It sounded like a great groaning mass of voices, wounded and in despair. When she stumbled into the smoldering battlefield, no one took any notice of her.

No one will help you. They know you, murderer.

“One! You said there was only one griffon!”

Vero could not see Father or Virgil, only the faces of mournful and broken men. With no idea where Father could be found, she let the sounds of shouting guide her.

“…and if the baron gives me leave, you’ll be one of those bodies in a moment, magister!”

“Master slayer, you will, of course, receive due compensation for the additional heads.”

“My lord, I-”

“Enough out of you, damn wizard! You killed these men sure enough. Gods! I nearly died myself!” The Baron was shouting down the wizard Abedias.

Beside the two of them, the Slayer was examining the bodies of four dead griffons. Past the griffons were lines of men laying still on the ground.

“The question is, is this all of them?” the Slayer asked, with grim resignation.

The Baron bore down on the wizard with a ferocious gaze. “Is it?”

“Y- yes I believe it is.”

The Slayer stood up, turned, and also stared down Abedias. “You believe?”

“Griffons are really very fragile-”

“They didn’t seem so fragile when one tore this out of my plate!” the Baron thundered, and gestured towards an enormous gash in his steel breast plate. The strike must have come just short of his chest, or he would certainly be dead.

“I mean internally. Very prone to organ failure. I need many specimens, because without the most careful care, they die in great numbers. Given their natural expiry rate there should only have been one left by now according to my calculations, perhaps two. Four griffons are totally unprecedented. I’m certain this is all of them. Certain.”

“Your ‘careful care’ is what’s been killing them, and drove them mad enough to break free in the first-” The Slayer noticed Vero watching them. “-gods, what’s a child doing here?”

“It’s Olivia’s girl.” The Baron called for one of his men. “Bring her something to drink!” He kneeled down and clasped her hands in his. “You’re covered in blood, are you hurt?”

He’ll find out what you did.

“Ma- Mama…”

“Where is your mother, little one?”

It’s your fault.

“Mama…” Vero started to cry again and could say no more.

The Baron put a waterskin to her lips and Vero began to drink.

“What happened to your mother, dear?”

You killed her.

“Griff- griff…” Vero tried to say more, but she was startled back into silence when the Slayer struck the Abedias and sent him sprawling to the ground.

The Slayer stood over him with a terrifying expression, but the wizard remained unmoved. “It’s simply another one! And another bounty for you! So don’t you look so fierce at me!”

“Another one? Another griffon, another chance to die on behalf of a lying sadist, another orphan!” The Slayer kicked the wizard hard in the stomach.

“Not in front of the girl. I’ll have him dealt with later, she’s seen enough already. And gods, but it’s not over yet.” The Baron pulled Vero to her feet, and Abedias slunk away like a whipped dog.

“Fa- find Father.”

“I- I’ll take you to him, little one. And your brother.”

The Baron led her past the griffons, along the row of bodies who Vero tried her best not to recognize, until the end, where Father and Virgil lay sleeping.

“I’m… I’m very sorry, my dear. I’ll give you time alone with them.”

Vero feared that Father would be angry if she woke him, so she shook Virgil first, but he did not respond. Then she tried to wake Father after all, but he did not move either. The Baron said he was giving her time alone with them, but she did not know what to do with them if they would not wake.

She sat and looked at them, her mind a complete blank.

The Baron was speaking to the Slayer behind her. “There’s no way to know that there’s only one more left, and I won’t be getting anymore fighting out of this lot. I’ll pay you for the other four if you wish to close the contract now.”

“No, I’ll take the fifth as well. This is my trade after all.”

“Is there anything you’ll need?”

“More bolts for the crossbow. Medical supplies. And rations, I may have to stay out here overnight.”

“You’ll have them.”

Vero looked helplessly back and forth from Father to Virgil. Her brother’s clothes were torn and stained with blood, but he still had his dagger on his belt.

“Mama said- said to tell you- that she loves you. Both of you. This is all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Vero pulled the dagger off her brother’s belt and followed the Slayer.