Andrew

Being led into a small kitchen, Andrew and Flynn were offered to sit on wooden chairs as Gracie and Iris exchanged an unspoken look. With the round table in the centre of the kitchen, Andrew could not help but feel cramped in the room. Stuck in a space with a mother who partly trusts him and a huntress who hardly trusts him at all he tried to keep from pulling any sudden movements. With arms folded to himself, he slowly stretched his aching ankle to test it. It felt a little better, which was good. It meant he could not have sprained it.

The kettle was boiling under fire before Andrew and Flynn entered the house. Chase slowed down his eating as he watched them sit among him, but soon went back to his meal when Gracie prompted him to do so. Tea served, Iiris wrapped her green shawl around herself as she leaned against the kitchen counter to look at them.

“So, are you going to tell us this important message?” Gracie asked. She leaned against the kitchen counter opposite Iris. Andrew bet it was so she could keep a better track on both him and Flynn. Andrew, unsure of what they were here to say, looked at Flynn for answers. Flynn, meanwhile, had his eyes closed, as if contemplating some deep issue before he spoke.

“Andrew, I’m sure you’ve noticed that in the short time that we’ve travelled, Sophie and I hardly exchanged words with each other.” He said it as a statement, like it would not be opposed to questions. He was right. He nodded. Andrew guessed he’d spotted something odd, but it was only now that Flynn mentioned it that it stood out as the bizarre thing that it was.

“But what’s that got to do with anything?” Andrew asked. Looking around, Andrew could see that Gracie and Iris held the same question in their eyes.

“I’m starting this way because it’s easier to have you put this together before I say it,” Flynn said. “To put it simply, Sophie and I have a connection.”

“I should hope so,” Andrew sighed. Flynn just continued onwards, like he never spoke.

“Anything she thinks to tell me, I can read. I too can send thoughts to her just by thinking them with her in mind,” Flynn said. Andrew’s brows furrowed as he puzzled out what he was trying to tell him.

“So you’re telling me that… you can talk to Sophie without saying a word?” Flynn nodded. Andrew just fell silent for a moment before frowning and nodding in appreciation.

“I should be more surprised,” Andrew chuckled to himself.

“So why ain’t you?” Gracie asked.

“I mean, it just makes sense. You’ve seldom said a word to each other since we met you, and yet you both were in lockstep with one another in almost anything we did. It’s obvious when I think back on it. And given how crazy some rumours are about Runesmiths, mind speaking seems like the tamest one I’ve heard,” Andrew said. Flynn grinned.

“A Runesmith’s worst-kept secret,” he said.

“So it’s not a unique skill?”

“Between a Runesmith and their chosen knight, there is a special bond. I think it came about with how Runesmiths transfer power between them and their familiar, but I’m not sure—you are better off asking Sophie for the details. All I do know is that it works. Because of how convenient it is, most Runesmiths learn how to communicate through the mind. Anyway, my point is this; because of it, we can talk to one another within the same room freely without others overhearing.”

“Sounds convenient,” he said, half intrigued.

So they were just having their own silent conversations around us… Andrew thought. A small part of him could not help but wonder whether some of that conversation was stuff that they intended to keep among themselves if them being there changed how often they used it somehow. Flynn must have picked up on the look on his face because he smiled at him assuredly.

“Not just ‘convenient,’ it is the fastest means of communication since the great fall—perhaps even faster than what we had back then. With it, I can convey just about anything I wish to just as quick as,” he snapped his fingers. ”Very handy in a scrap. It’s so good, in fact, that it almost makes talking normally seem… slow. Anyway! Between me and Sophie, I can give you the rundown of what is happening in the village.

Andrew turned back to him. His ears burned in the hopes of picking up what he thought Flynn was dropping.

“Say that again…” Gracie said.

“I can reach Sophie from the village to talk. In fact, I’m speaking with her right-”

“-They’ve made it to the village!?” Andrew said as he ran over to Flynn and gripped his shoulders before he knew what he was doing. Flynn only showed a small glimpse of shock before smiling and nodding.

“So you were worried… ay, you hide it well,” he said, making himself conscious. Instead of saying anything more, Flynn simply carried on. “They’d made it through the gates some time ago. Sophie just got done explaining what I’ve just told you to Natalie.”

“You could have started with that,” Gracie said. Flynn frowned.

“Well, I, for one, am glad for the preamble. At least now we are all on the same page,” Iris said. “You said that there was news.”

“I’ll get to all of that, but before all that, yes, Natalie is fine. She’s asking if you’re causing Gracie any trouble.”

“Sadly, I haven’t had the chance.” Andrew looked at Gracie as he said it, a rueful grin on his face. Surprisingly, Gracie returned a grin of her own as she shook her head at him. Flynn’s eyes, however, did not hold any mirth. Concern crept over the kitchen as all watched him in silence.

“Sophie’s made contact with the village chiefs,” Flynn began.

“That was quick,” Andrew said slowly. He was still trying to get over the fact that they made it there safely.

“Notoriety of her title. Once they saw the blue phoenix on her robes, they practically dragged her to the chief’s side when she asked for them.” It made sense. Rune smiths were renowned for their power and intellect the world over. It’s said that one Runesmith had power equal to that of kings and queens. A humble village like Progmanfest would see her as nothing less than their own monarch paying them a surprise visit. On any other day, Andrew would have paid good coin to see locals trip over themselves trying to appease someone of that renown. All he could think about now was the troubled look on Flynn’s face.

“What’s happening over there?” Gracie asked.

“Nothing good,” Flynn proceeded to give him the rundown. It was bad. Even the little they gathered from Iris did not quite prepare him for what Flynn told them next.

“The village had been dealing with an increasing number of demons appearing beyond their walls. Despite the Sentinel dealing with the bulk of them, there were just too many of them for it to handle alone. Travellers and traders were reporting having more run-ins with demons on their way to Progmanfest. With encounters far exceeding agreed-upon numbers standards, trade with neighbouring settlements was greatly affected, and just when the chief and their council were able to revert some of their men to play support with the Sentinel to clear the trade route, the sentinel up and left the village. It had not come back since.”

“Things must be tense in the village,” Andrew said, taking it all in. This was bad. It is said that one sentinel was equal to that of ten well-trained knights. If the village was already in dire straits before it left, then…

“It gets worse,” Flynn’s words cut through his foggy thoughts.

As the hunter-knights struggled to clear the trade roads, they ran into a formidable demon. One that was most likely the cause of all these issues. Said to hold the potential of single-handedly destroying an entire village if left unchallenged. A Famine Fissure. Andrew heard of the name. And although most of the details were lost to him now, he recalled enough of its feats to have an instant sinking gut feeling. Instead of succumbing to this feeling, Andrew mastered himself just enough to keep quiet and carefully think over the key points he recalled about the Famine Fissure that made it so deadly.

“It’s able to spawn lesser demons around it when threatened,” he said. Flynn nodded.

“So that’s the reason why there are so many demons roaming around,” Gracie said.”

“The village already guessed that much,” Flynn continued. “They sent a team to dispose of the Famine Fissure, as strong as they are. Famine Fissures are not truly at their worst at first. It’s only when they’ve had time to sleep and feed off the land do they become the village’s destroyer. That would often take about a month of the demon eating and resting.” Andrew swallowed.

“How long has the demon been resting here?” Gracie asked.

“Given reports of its size when they last saw it, the thing had obviously been here for months, leeching off the land. It has grown quite big and very powerful. At its current size, the average hunter cannot hope to take it on even if they outnumber it fifty to one.”

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“I hope they are not counting our arrival as the table turner in all of this mess?” Andrew said.

“Not necessarily. Luckily for both of us, they had some outside help. A renowned band of hunters happened at their village just as they put the truth together and helped the locals on this mission.”

“What’s their name?” Andrew asked.

“The Wandering Willows,” Flynn said.

“They pass through the village every once in a while to take on the more trying missions we sometimes get. They are good at what they do.” Gracie said. There was a bit of dejection in her tone, however. Andrew was not all that deep in the knowledge when it comes to other teams of hunters, but even he’d caught wind of Willow’s feats. A small band of around thirty men with five among them steering the helm. Solid leadership. A bit pricey, though.”

“So let me guess, they’d dealt with the Famine Fissure but left all the demons below their pay grade to us?” Andrew said.

“That sounds like them,” Gracie huffed. She took another look at him now, as if really seeing him for the first time. “You’ve met them before?” Andrew shook his head.

“I’ve seen them cause a scene at a tavern we snuck into once.” He’d heard them refuse jobs on occasion simply because they did not meet their profit margins. That got a stir from the locals.

“You know when I say things get worse? Well, we’ve not reached the worst of it, so hold on to something,” Andrew clenched his fists before he’d realised it. What could be worse than what he’d already been told? Few and far between had Andrew seen Flynn be so serious. A part of him wanted him to crack into a smile and say that he was joking. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Things were a lot worse. Not only did the Wandering Willows and village hunters’ knights fail to kill the Famine Fissure, but it retreated within a large lake. Hidden in the depths, it ate all the fish within the lake so it could grow in strength. As the demons grew to outnumber the combined teams of hunters, they were forced to retreat. But before the order could be relayed, the wolves suddenly came down from the mountain and smashed into their already faltering ranks. According to the locals, their ‘guardians’ had been acting strange for some time now, but this was the first time they’d ever been so blatantly attacked by them. Had it not been for the quick decisive actions and sacrifices from some of the brave men that day, then over half of the combined forces would have perished.

“Is Da okay?” Chase asked. Flynn must have been asking Sophie the same questions because he had his eyes closed for a short moment, only to open them soon after and tell them that he didn’t know. Iris’ eyes seemed to be lost in some distant memory. Chase, who’d hardly eaten much of his food since they all came into the kitchen, put down his spoon as if disgusted by his meal.

“What about my sister?” Gracie asked.

Sister?

“She’s safe,” Flynn said. “Natalie had met her though briefly; they are getting ready to fight the Famine Fissure again as we speak.”

“So, she also will be joining the upcoming fight…” Gracie said. Silence filled the room before she nodded to herself. Andrew’s lip twitched. He felt a stab of pity for her, but he pushed that aside to ask the next question.

“So all this stuff going on around the village and the odd behaviour of the wolf was somehow linked to it?” Andrew asked.

Flynn nodded. “Not like that knowledge gets us anywhere. Even the local villagers are unable to make sense out of it. Worst yet, some of them have begun blaming the Wandering Willows for the wolves’ abnormal behaviour. Things nearly came to blows.”

Thankfully, the infighting was avoided, but that still left them with the impossible task of defeating the ever-evolving Famine Fissure and its growing army of demon spawn. Whether they avoided or killed the village’s guardian, they had to prepare their people to evacuate.

“Are they giving up on the village?” Iris seemed to tremble with a cold intensity.

“It’s a precaution in case things do turn south. Famine Fissures have a real mean streak—more so than your average demon. They are spite and vengeance incarnate. They hold grudges, win or lose. It will hold its bitterness until it can unleash its rage on its target. In its pursuit of vengeance, the demon will travel miles. Finding and killing anyone for slight, it happens to have on its mind. It’s why they are so often linked to whole towns being wiped out. Evacuating the village is a good move, but in all honesty, if they somehow fail to defeat the Famine Fissure this time around… it might already be too late for the people evacuating. The village council agreed that telling the masses this last part would induce mass panic. As such, only the men who are going to battle have been told the whole truth.

“Cycle’s above,” Iris breathed. She spoke for all of them. All except Gracie. She looked restless. Stirred up like a gigantic storm trapped in a teacup.

“They were encouraged to split into three groups… harder for the demon to hunt them all down that way. Some of them will be making it through here shortly,” Flynn said.

“If leaving now will still be too late, then why in Cycles name did the council keep them in the village for so long?!” Gracie said. It was a good question. If they left sooner, then they could lessen the casualties even further.

“If everyone ran all over the place like headless sheep, then they could not be herded back once the bad wolf was gone,” Chase said. Everybody looked at him, making the boy shrink under their gaze. “Is that wrong?” he said carefully. Gracie and his mother shook their heads. It was surprisingly insightful for his age.

“You’re right Chase; once we killed the demon, we could have ordered them to come back home,” Gracie huffed.

“Some people could seek shelter under our roof for a while. It might not be much safer here than in the village, but it’s still something,” Iris said.

“Shouldn’t they have called for backup from other nearby villages?” Andrew asked. Some details about what to do when faced with a Famine Fissure came flooding back to his mind. There were just some demons that were too powerful to handle alone, their threat to humanity too great not to inform a neighbour in case things went horribly wrong.

“Honestly, I don’t know why this is not obvious to them!” Gracie shook her head. Andrew agreed that, given everything they knew, it seemed like the best option. He was about to say as much until he noticed something, or rather, a lack of something. Flynn’s lack of a reply put Andrew on edge. When he turned to look at him, the worried knot in his gut tightened.

“There is another reason why the council chose to keep their people in the village until the last possible moment,” Flynn said gravely. “They had sent for backup as you said, messages were sent to the nearby civilisations about what they were facing days ago. But each and every man they send to travel beyond Progmanfest borders never came back. They thought it unlucky the first time. Until it happened again with five more messengers.”

“Are they blaming that on the wolves, too?” Gracie said. Flynn shook his head.

“They did at first, some simply claiming that the guardians had ‘abandoned them,’ but most of these messengers were Progmanfest locals. They had families to return to, and regardless of the strange way the wolves were acting, they knew their way around their territory. No, given this aligns with the long list of coincidences that are happening along with the appearance of the Famine Fissure, the council are convinced that someone is out there intentionally killing their messengers to isolate them in this hell.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is that this problem that we are dealing with is being partly helped by men?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, given everything. The messengers were sent westward towards the nearest towns, Aqua Falls being one of them. But that’s also the direction where they’ve stopped getting needed trade. Whether that is because of some issue that turned up before the demon hid within the river, they cannot say. And because the Famine Fissure is causing chaos on the lake down south, they have suspended all boat transportation. Seems like someone is aiming to isolate and starve you all until you crumble.”

“That is why we’d been ordered to stay here and keep our goods coming despite the circumstances. They did not let us stop because we cannot afford to stop, not without running out of food,” Iris said.

“But why? Why would anyone do such a thing!?” Gracie said. She was struggling to keep her composure. Flynn sadly shrugged.

“I wish I could say. Beyond working out that someone is out there killing messengers, Sophie and the council are grasping at straws. All that is apparent is that whoever they are, they aim to cut off all our means of feeding ourselves, meaning that… meaning that this ‘group’ could attack this farm next.” Everything fell silent as Iris shivered and rubbed her arms, as if fighting off a sudden chill. Gracie bit her lip as she fell into deep contemplation. Chase just looked at the group of troubled faces. He was trying to be a brave boy, but that just made it more apparent to Andrew that he understood enough to be crushed by the weight of what was to come. Andrew’s mind was still spinning as Flynn continued. Luckily, the stream of bad news and problems ended there. Now they talked about the village council and how they plan to launch their counterattack. They hope to lure the Famine Fissure out from the lake. The groups of hunters will take turns making themselves the bait, whilst another party tries to knock it out of the sky so they can land a killing blow. The plan, however, had a big flaw. The Famine Fissure was huge and had grown even bigger since it retreated to eat fish deep in the lake. Killing it with a single decisive strike was unlikely, and it would take a thousand paper cuts from ornery knights before it was in any grave danger. The Famine Fissure could retreat like last time if it was overwhelmed. Knowing that they wouldn’t have another chance to do this right, the council decided to keep a large chunk of their archers to oversee the lake. This way, they can shoot it down the moment it attempts to retreat back underwater. The problem with that was besides taking away half the men that could inflict damage on the demon, it put too much of a burden on the archers to finish the job.

And so Sophie helped them devise another plan. One that put the burden of ending the demon upon herself and Natalie. They were up against it, and there were a thousand things that could go wrong. But if everyone held fast and stuck to their roles, their chances of killing the Famine Fissure had increased greatly.

“The knights would be making their way to Lake Thow in the next hour,” Flynn said. “Most we can do now is look out for demons spawning and this so-called killer.” There were a thousand things Andrew wanted to ask Natalie, but instead of voicing any of them, he nodded.

“We need to get word of all of this to Lawrence and his men,” Iris said.

Lawrence?…

“Are they farmers too?” Andrew asked. Iris nodded.

“If it’s true that we farmers might be targeted next, then…” she swallowed a lump before visibly commanding composure and stroking her son’s head. “They lay west of here, just beyond our pond and slope.”

“You mean Flynn’s pond?” Andrew asked. Everyone at the table just looked at him blankly, including Flynn. He was hoping to relieve some of the tension. In truth, he wanted some time to himself. Seeing that he was not the only one, Andrew offered to deliver Lawrence the message. Just as he was about to leave, Gracie walked past everyone in the kitchen, and, ignoring both Chase and Iris’s calls, left without so much as a look back. Gritting his teeth, Andrew chased after her as she reached halfway up the steps.

“Not now, swordsman,” she said.

“It’s about your sister!” Andrew started. He caught a glimpse of her face as she walked up. It looked conflicted with a well of emotions.

“What about her?” Gracie did not even slow her pace up the steps as she said it. Andrew blinked. It should be obvious.

“She’s helping out in the battle,” he continued. She stopped mid-step, her head looking onwards.

“What of it?” She turned to him now, her expression as unreadable as stone. Her mask was impeccable, but even then, Andrew sensed that she was in the same mood that he was. Out of her depth, powerless to do what must be done, and wishing for nothing more than to withdraw from the world and be somewhere else.

But that was not an option.

“Is that the favour you asked Natalie for? To watch over her in battle?” She paused a moment before turning back, reaching the top floor.

“I don’t want to talk about it, much less with you.”

“Fine! But you at least owe Iris an-”

“-If you plan on visiting Lawrence, then you better get going.” As she walked upstairs, it took all of Andrew’s discipline to not sigh out loud.

Instead, Andrew scratched his dreadlocked hair in frustration.

“‘Don’t be hard on her’ my ass.” Once again, he wondered what Natalie saw in this girl.