The moon shone brightly in the sky as Arc, Valen, Evie, Jono and Marcus walked up the mountain path towards their base. It had been one of their longer trips out on the road, seeing them away for three weeks. It was not a trip without spoils, however, and they were returning with a batch of spell scrolls in-hand that they had looted from the basement of an old wizard’s tower to the south.

“A bath in the river and I’ll be a merry man again,” said Valen, slowly rotating his neck to stretch it out.

“It’ll cheer me up too, Vale,” said Arc with a grin. “You’re starting to stink up the place.”

“Shut your mouth,” said Valen, digging Arc on the arm with a chuckle.

“I hope Master Dusk finds these useful,” said Jono, tapping on his pack. “If we’ve managed to find at least one new spell, it’s been a job well done.”

“And meals well-earned,” added Marcus. “I could eat a horse right about now.”

Valen sighed. “One day, we’ll get ourselves a car and cut our on the road in half.”

“In half?” asked Jono. “It’ll be much lower than that. I would say it would be—”

“You don’t need to take it so literally, chum,” said Valen, slapping Jono on the back. “We’ll be walking a lot less and bringing back more scrolls from further afar. You’re the brainbox of the unit, so I’m sure you can figure out how to keep the cars in good shape.”

“I can fix a car,” said Marcus. “My old man showed me how when I was a young lad.”

Arc was intrigued. “I didn’t know that. You reckon you can remember how?”

“Depends on the model, but I can always give it a go.”

“We ought to stop in town and see if we can pool together enough gold and silver to buy one,” said Evie, sounding excited by the prospect. The men found the long journeys much easier than she did.

“It’ll cost a brave bit of coin,” said Jono. “More than we have.”

Valen waved his hand dismissively. “If we can make the case to Master Dusk, I’m sure he’ll—”

All five stopped dead upon seeing what was standing on the road. They had thought it the shadow of a tree at first, but it had suddenly turned and starting moving towards them. It was at least ten feet tall, even hunched over as it was, and covered in thick hair. Its head bore two long and twisted horns that ended in points sharper than any spear. Its amber eyes glowed from within their sockets as it stared at the five humans and it bore a toothy grin.

The demonic creature burst forward, running towards the five spellslingers. They drew their spellcasters immediately and launched a volley of Arcane Shots that homed in on the creature as it ran. It tried to leap out of the way of the incoming attacks, but the glowing orbs of energy swerved to follow its movements and knocked it back onto the ground, taking chunks of hair and flesh from it.

The creature lay on the ground for a moment before springing back to its feet and resuming its charge with a bone-chilling roar.

“Time for the big one,” said Valen, switching to different red cartridge and pulling the trigger.

An ethereal green arrow shot from the end of his gun and whooshed through the air, striking the creature on the chest and sending a wave of acid across its body. It howled and flailed as the acid burned through its fur and penetrated its body, eviscerating its flesh. Even with the grievous injuries, the demon pulled itself together enough to stagger forward for another dozen paces before collapsing in a heap.

“Is it dead?” asked Arc.

“Check,” said Valen.

“I’ll do it,” said Marcus, striding forward towards what was left of the monster.

He gave it a kick, careful to avoid the last remnants of the acid. The demon didn’t stir and Marcus bent down to examine it more closely, while Arc kept his spellslinger raised in case the creature was playing dead and waiting for a moment like this to strike.

“It’s a goner,” said Marcus, standing back up.

“Master Dusk!” cried Jono, running towards Marcus and then zooming straight past him. The other four looked at each other briefly and took off after Jono, their concern for their master growing with each step they took.

As they rounded a bend in the path, they made their way through the trees, of which only half bore leaves and the others were dead husks. Coming into a small clearing, they quintet laid eyes on the place that they called home.

It was an old stone manor dating back two centuries that was abandoned even before the Arcanaclysm. Master Dusk had claimed it for himself and brought all of his spellslinger students to live with him, using this house as their base of operations. It was quiet and secluded, somewhere that only birds and small rodents would bother visiting. For a demon to just happen upon it was unthinkable.

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Jono was first through the rickety door. “Master Dusk!” he called out.

The five spread out, keeping their spellcasters raised as they searched the house for any sign of their master, but there was nothing. The kitchen was empty, the dining room was empty, the bedrooms were empty, even the basement was empty. They gathered out the front once they were sure they had not missed anything and started scouring the garden.

Arc and Evie headed for the trees while the other three walked around the house, hoping for any sign of their missing master.

“I hate this feeling,” said Evie, tightening her orange scarf around her neck.

“He can handle himself,” said Arc. “Old man’s probably chasing other demons, blasting them to pieces with fireballs, lightning blasts and boulders.”

“Do you believe that or do you hope that?”

“I think you know the answer.”

Seeing no sign of Master Dusk anywhere, the five spellslingers reconvened on the porch.

“What are we supposed to do now?” asked Jono, his voice resonating with fear.

“He isn’t here, therefore, we go find him,” said Valen. “It’s as simple as that, Jono.”

“And if he turns up here in the meantime?”

“Alright,” said Valen. “Plan time. You and Evie wait here, keep watch for any more demons and use whatever spell cartridges you need to keep both the base and yourselves safe. Arc, Marcus and I will go on the hunt around the mountain and see what we can glean. If we’re not back by morning, that means we’ve found the master’s trail and are pursuing it.”

“Or a monster’s trail,” said Marcus. “He could have been knocked out and carried away.”

Valen rolled his eyes in frustration. “I intended that to be a catch-all, but if you insist on being pernickety, fine. We’re wasting time here.”

“Right,” said Arc. “We’ll grab a few spell cartridges each and—”

“Wait!” called Jono, sprinting inside and leaving the perplexed others on the porch.

He returned a minute later with a look of fear on his face.

“Spit it out,” said Marcus as Jono stared at them all.

“The cabinet where Master Dusk keeps his spellcaster and spellbook is still locked up tightly,” said Jono.

“There goes the faintest hope that he walked out of here willingly,” muttered Arc quietly before addressing the others. “Marcus and Jono, you keep watch out here. Valen, you go stock up on food and water for us, Evie can grab us a few spell cartridges and I’ll grab bullets for our revolvers.”

“Right,” said Valen as Marcus gave a nod of agreement. “No duds, alright?”

Valen headed into the basement to stock up on the rations while Arc and Evie headed into the storage room at the far side of the kitchen. Evie entered a combination into a metal safe and gathered three boxes filled with revolver rounds, while Arc lifted a couple of loose planks to reveal a metal trunk concealed within the floor.

He flipped open the lid and was met by more than a hundred spell cartridges. They came in eight different colours and Arc chose a variety of each, aiming mainly for the evocation cartridges. He made sure to pick out a few of his favourites from Arcane Shot to Lightning Bolt, but also chose a few that he knew Valen and Marcus favoured, namely Vampiric Drain and Stoneskin.

“I have a horrible feeling,” said Evie, watching Arc gather the cartridges.

“I would be more surprised if you didn’t,” he replied, stuffing the last of the cartridges into his jacket.

“No, I mean…that there’s something more going on that we don’t realise. I can’t put it into words, but…never mind.”

“Don’t shut it down,” said Arc, walking over to Evie and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Evie looked uneasy and then sighed. “There’s been something different about Master Dusk lately. The tone in his voice, the way he carries himself…he’s not seemed all there. I thought maybe you or the others would have picked up on it, but I guess not.”

“No, I haven’t noticed. That said, you have good instincts. If you think something else is going on, I believe you.”

“You do?”

“Of course.”

Evie smiled briefly before her face fell again. “I hope I’m wrong. I truly hope that. I’m afraid that there’s been something bothering the master and whatever it is has manifested. It’s no coincidence that there was a demon on the road.”

“Agreed. A demon appears and Master Dusk is missing? There two things don’t just happen concurrently. They’re rela—”

“Arc! Evie!” shouted Valen from outside.

The two headed outside to join the rest of their band and marched down the front steps where the road lay before them before fading into the trees and around the bend of the mountain path.

“Stocked up?” asked Valen.

“Yes,” said Evie, passing him, Arc and Marcus a box of ammunition each. Arc meanwhile gave both of his friends a dozen spell cartridges each.

“Vampiric Drain,” said Valen with a smirk. “Thank you, Shutan the Ruined.”

“And we’re sure it’s a good idea to separate?” asked Jono.

“As it stands, there are no good ideas,” replied Valen. “There’s only making the best of the current scenario. Master Dusk never ventures far by himself, especially at night. It’s like we said, we’ll be back by morning if we haven’t found anything.”

Arc, Valen and Marcus all turned to walk away, but Evie grabbed Arc’s hand to stop him. “Be careful,” she said, standing on her toes and kissing him on the cheek. “There’s no shame in running if things get bad.”

With a smile, Arc, wrapped her orange scarf around her more snugly. “Don’t let Jono go crazy, eh?” he said. “I think he might faint.”

“Forgive me for the concern,” said Jono with a scowl.

“I mean it,” said Evie. “Be careful.”

“When have you ever known me to be reckless?”

Evie let out a small laugh and raised an eyebrow, but she knew Arc was just playing with her. He turned and ran to catch up with Valen and Marcus who were already several yards down the road.

“How long do you think it’ll be before we see them again?” asked Jono.

“They won’t be back by morning,” said Evie quietly. “We’re never that lucky. What do you think?”

“I wish I knew, Evangeline,” said Jono with a sigh.

The pair watched three of their closest friends shrink as they walked along the dusty road.

“All good, Arc?” asked Valen as Arc caught up to him and Marcus.

“As good as can be expected,” Arc replied.

“You know we’ll find more demons, right?”

“Almost assuredly.”

Marcus squinted into the night. “Do you think the master is being hunted because he’s one of the last remaining wizards?”

Valen shrugged. “Who knows? All that matters is that we find him and bring him back home. If that takes us until morning, great. If that takes us until next month, then so be it. Are you boys in?”

“Yes,” said Marcus.

“Absolutely,” said Arc.

“Good,” said Valen. “Loads up your spellcasters, chums, because we may be venturing into the bowels of the hells before the night is over.”

The trio of spellslingers left the manor behind as they walked along the road, all of them expecting the worst. They were hoping for the best, but that was rarely what they found.