The drake charged awkwardly, its hurt leg hampering it as it tried to sprint up-hill before the group could get themselves ready. It let out a blast of fire mid-sprint, combining with its horned head to form an incendiary battering ram that tossed Aurgin and Aileen aside. They landed hard. Aileen’s vision flashed and Aurgin somersaulted into the trunk of a tree. Before Aileen could pull herself to her feet the drake rounded on her, fanged mouth open.

She heard a heavy T’chunk! A small brown bolt slammed into the drake’s head, burying itself into flesh and bone. Maker’s crossbow was indeed all function, no flash. The drake stumbled back, thrashing wildly from the pain, its hurt arm trying to rub at the wound. It’s tail swung around like a living whip, shattering branches and young trees. When the beast collided with a tree, it shook loose a shower of twigs and leaves, creating a dark cloud of noisy shapes that made Aileen’s eyes water. She rolled into a better position, wincing at the seared skin on her neck and face. Aurgin was also on her feet, swaying with dizziness.

The cleric knew her companion would need help seeing, so she summoned Tain’s power into a bolt of radiance and flung it at the drake. It hit, burning at the scales with unnatural heat. The night was filled by the roars of pain and rage, drowning out the rustling leaves in the wind. The drake whirled toward Aileen, leaping at her. Maker’s crossbow fired again and struck true, but the beast was already moving. It crashed into her shield as the dart sank into its neck.

Long claws hewed at the sides of her armor, popping the rivets of the chain-mail and pulling the thread of the gambeson loose. Though the armor saved her from being shredded apart, the force of the drake’s talons pummeled muscle and broke ribs. All she could do was keep her shield between its gnashing mouth and her head. With an angry snarl it bit down on the shield’s edge, narrowly missing her hand, and wrenched a chunk out of the steel. My steel cap won’t do anything against that!

Aurgin exploded into view, maul moving at an inhuman pace. With a titanic overhead swing she shattered one of the drake’s segmented horns, and before the spray of bone could hit the ground she was swinging in again, this time at its snout. It backed away, unwilling to let go of Aileen’s shield. There was an awful pain and wet crunching noise as its tugging broke the bones in her hand and forearm, stripping her shield away. Aurgin froze upon hearing Aileen’s shrill scream of pain.

Another crossbow bolt slammed into it, low in its neck. Aurgin understood, Maker is going for its heart. Dragon scales were great at resisting blunt force, and their bones were even tougher, so the best way to put a draconid down was to pierce its heart. The skull was too strong to get to the brain. The Mathuni warrior leaped back into action with her maul, sending out a series of blurring feints. The radiant scorch mark on its shoulder helped her keep track in the dark, but the roots underfoot tripped her up.

The drake regathered itself, bleeding heavily. It turned its attention on Aurgin just in time for Maker’s metal pet, Mo, to scuttle in and sink a pointed arm into the already savaged leg of the drake. It spasmed, flinging Mo away into the dark, but leaving itself open. Aurgin pivoted forward, tripping on an invisible root, and bringing her maul down onto the talons of its unhurt leg. Another crossbow bolt flew in the night, this one carving a short path along the drakes back before disappearing into the woods.

This was its limit. With an undulating whine it spun and galloped off, splintering any tree that got in its way. Augrin pulled herself from the ground, crawling over to Aileen, who was curled up where she lay.

“God’s above, Aileen are you okay?” She asked.

“Mm!” was the strangled reply. Aurgin could see slivers of golden brilliance peeking our from under her.

She is trying not to highlight herself. “It left, it’s gone.”

Aileen rolled over, face a mask of pain. With her good hand she was massaging the divine light into her wounds, forcing bone back into place and sealing it back together. Muscles stretched themselves over gaps and fused back into a seamless whole, and skin began to scab. Aurgin checked over herself. She could tell her mind was holding back a world of pain from the burns all over her arms and face. Some of the metal plates in her brigandine vest were dented, hinting had bruised ribs.

Maker strode over, crossbow at the ready. “Drakes are not territorial enough to come back, but if there is anyone out in the woods, they will have heard that. We should leave quickly.”

Aurgin checked back over her shoulder at the hole in the foliage that the drake’s flight had left. “What about your little friend? Mo?”

“It is fine,” Maker said without looking. “What about your friend? Can she walk?”

“Her friend is just fine,” Aileen said through gritted teeth. Slowly and unsteadily she pulled herself to her feet. Aurgin reached to help but pulled her arms back when she saw them in the light coming off of Aileen. They were burnt badly. Near the wrist she could see the white of bone. It was not the first time she had been badly injured, so she had enough wisdom to not exacerbate her injury.

Aileen checked over herself and her equipment. Her burns were solved with a careful caress of her glowing hand, but her shield and armor were almost entirely ruined. The chainmail was missing rings all along the sides, but what really rent her heart was her shield. The drake had taken a bite out of it, leaving sharp, jagged metal around the edges. It had also bent the shield slightly when it pulled away. I didn’t even get to use my mace. Now she had more reasons to hate fighting large predators.

She gasped when she saw Aurgin’s burnt face and arms. One of the Mathuni’s slightly ears was completely gone, as were her eyebrows. One tusk was chipped at the tip. Worse were her hands, scorched through to the bone. “Hells, Aurgin! How did you even hold onto your hammer?”

Aurgin grinned, full of bravado. “Guess I’m just that tough.” Her tone dropped slightly. “Could you heal them, though?”

“We need to be moving soon.” Maker insisted with their flat tone.

“Hang on.” Aileen reached out, pulling deeply from Tain’s well of power. In the back of her head she could feel exhaustion. Using magic was mentally taxing, especially complicated things like healing. To imagine wounds being completely healed was not easy. Supposedly, wizards and other arcanists struggled to heal wounds at all. Despite Tain’s presence making it easier, healing so much was draining.

Aurgin flinched away at first, but Aileen’s hands soothed. Where they touched fresh skin sprouted like frost on glass, webbing its way out across the burns. Better was the sensation of the cleric’s soft fingertips on Aurgin’s skin. She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling, pushing the pain aside.

“Look up, Aurgin.” She commanded. With care she caressed Aurgin’s neck, wincing at the amount of blood that stained the Mathuni’s collar. Aurgin didn’t care, she had lots of blood. She was more invested in the glorious feeling of Aileen’s hands, gentle yet firm, brushing along the sides and base of her neck. Aurgin shivered when those hands traced along the back of her head to her brow. Aileen missed nothing, not even the patches of burnt scalp hidden under singed hair.

Maker was unimpressed. “This will be a useless moment if arrows kill us all.” Mo scuttled out of the dark to their metal feet.

“Quiet you.” Aurgin chided, basking in the feeling.

“Maker is right, though. We should take cover or at least get away from this clearing.” Aileen pulled her hands away, her work done. She was barely standing, feeling the cold of the night doubly as bad as Aurgin. The Mathuni sighed in disappointment when Aileen’s hands left her skin.

“Fine. Let’s hide in the beast’s den, maybe we can find something useful. At least we will be out of sight.” With that she swung her maul onto her shoulder and set out. As she did, the strap on her pack gave out. It had been burned through.

The others followed her as she awkwardly stumbled through the dark towards the cave. It smelled dry and musky, as the drake did. They sheltered in it, not daring to create any light for fear of giving their position away. Instead they watched from the shadows. Maker’s prediction was accurate.

Less than half an hour after taking cover, dark shapes closed in on the singed hill. They were too far for Aileen to see them, but they moved with a discomforting grace and stealth. Whoever they were, they were no brutish bandit looking for a purse to steal or a throat to cut. They had skill, flitting around bushes and twigs without a sound. Aileen squinted, desperately trying to see what was familiar about them.

There came a cry from the distance. It mimicked the call of a loon, starting low and building toward a crescendo that echoed off the mountains. Abruptly it shattered into a despairing wail, the cry of a mother kneeling over the body of her child. It shook them to their cores, reverberating in the stone around them. The shadowy Folk that were inspecting the hill froze, and all at once darted away with barely a rustle. The cry endured for over a minute, leaving Aurgin and Aileen with their hands over their ears. Eyes wide, they looked at each other.

“What in the Twin Hells was that?” Aurgin asked.

Aileen shook her head, feeling the same fear. “I have walked this world for over a century. I have never heard anything like that.”

Maker leaned forward. “Nor have I. Bandits or not, I feel we are no longer safe here.”

Aurgin looked deeper into the cave. “Maybe we should scour this place quickly and be gone.”

Aileen felt inclined to agree. “Try and block the entrance, let as little light out as you can.”

Maker held its bulky clothes out above their head. Aileen felt rude for checking, but couldn’t help her curiosity. The rest of the Sentenate was clad in metal, like their head was, but around the joints the plates stopped. Beneath was a thick layer of wood with complicated metal sockets at the core. I wonder if they ever get rocks stuck in there, Aileen wondered before turning her attention away. She made a tiny golden flame dance in her hand, her already tired mind barely able to imagine it lighting up the cave.

There were bones and torn up bushes arranged in a thick mat at the back. Crammed into the corners away from the sleeping area were broken weapons–mostly bows and wooden spears, but there was some metal as well. Aileen ignored these, searching quickly. The three coins of silver she found she scooped into her purse before wondering how she would spend them in the vacant peninsula. At last she came to an offshoot she almost didn’t bother exploring.

There, atop a small boulder, was an old steel great helm. Dented, scratched, and crusted with dirt, it was still useful, assuming it would fit any of them. She snatched it, gave the rock another look over for any treasure or information, then left. Her friends were waiting for her. Aurgin looked up from where she was tying her backpack to herself.

“Anything?” Aurgin whispered.

“A steel helm, actually.”

“Oh, that’s handy.”

Maker also seemed pleased. “Very improbable!”

The scream came again, louder this time. Even the Sentenate cringed at the noise. After it died down, Aileen asked the question they all had.

“Does that sound closer to you two?”

Aurgin and Aileen ran, chests heaving and legs churning. Branches thrashed at them, snagging on their clothes and their packs. Aileen’s shield thumped against her back, the jagged metal from the drake’s bite snagging at her hair, her exhaustion smothered by terror. Aurgin’s broad shoulders thumped painfully against unseen tree trunks and sent her staggering to the side. Panic built in them, a fear of the unnatural and the unknown. It was like the fear of the Dragon; when the mind broke under trying to accept something so large and menacing as reality. It broke against them in waves, driving their flight.

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Maker kept pace, concerned for the health of their new companions and wondering what was making the noise. I would like to see it, at the very least. For a moment they considered ordering Moe to stay behind and get a glimpse of it, but the way the half-elf and half-mathuni were pushing themselves Moe would be needed to help carry them once they collapsed. The three ran at a breakneck pace for miles until they broke out of the forest and onto the road.

Stars above barely illuminated the hard-packed dirt. None of them knew how much further it went into the peninsula, nor who had built it. Aurgin looked to Aileen to say something when they heard the cry again. It drove both of them to their knees, its loon-like wind up shorter and harrowing scream more grating.

“It isn’t closer, but it isn’t further away,” Maker reported matter-of-factly.

“Follow the road!” Aileen commanded. She tried to stand but her muscles just wouldn’t obey. After the frantic sprint and brief rest, they had finally shut down. Maker tried to pick her up, but found they couldn’t.

“She is substantially heavier than I can carry.”

“But you’re made of metal!” Aurgin cried.

“I cannot lift her.”

With only a moment of hesitation, Aurgin bent low and grabbed the cleric, heaving her onto her shoulders. Aileen was heavy. Thick muscles combined with a full backpack and iron equipment made her at least as heavy as any hulking Mathuni, but that didn’t bother Aurgin. She had trained with the strongest Folk in the world. She launched herself into a quick jog. Without roots to trip her and trees to slam into, the extra burden of Aileen was barely a hindrance. Thinking on their feet, Maker pulled off one of their cloaks and dabbed at the sweat and blood that soaked their companions.

“What?” Aurgin asked without turning.

“Bait! It will smell like you.”

Aurgin’s heart dropped as she caught sight of a massive tree trunk across the road. It had not fallen naturally, its ends were clearly cut by axes. She could not see if the Folk who cut it were hiding in ambush, but it was more likely than not.

“Racks of fucking Rothgar! Can’t we catch a break?” As Maker dropped the soaked cloth Aurgin veered off the road, furious to have to leave it so soon. She surged toward a gap in the woods near the edge of the downed tree, hoping against hope there was no one there. Legs pumping she broke into a full sprint as she rounded the block. At the edges of vision she could see the forms of Folk cowering against the far side of the tree. The scream came again, drowning out the sounds of her thundering foot-steps.

The noise almost made her drop Aileen, but she held strong to her friend. With a split second glance she confirmed there were more bandits around the tree, bows in hand, but none of them could do more than squirm at the scream. Maker was right behind Aurgin, thankfully. They kept moving, desperate to put as many paces between them and the noise and the bandits. Maker sped up to Aurgin’s side.

“I dropped the cloth right in sight of their ambush. With luck, our problems should solve themselves.”

Aurgin did not respond, her lungs burning. Another minute of running sent them around a bend in the road, and they were out of sight from the bandit’s failed ambush. The scream returned two more times, and Aurgin was still on edge waiting for the next. Maker pointed to the side, into the woods.

“Let us slow down and take cover again. It might not–”

A new scream this time. Instead of building into a wail, this one was a choppy, harsh chirping. It brought new fear into Aurgin’s heart.

“That’s too damn close! Go! Look for a stream, too!”

Maker turned and bolted to the trees, Moe just ahead of them. Aurgin stumbled along behind, and as she ducked under the canopy of the trees the sounds of Folkish screams reached her ears. She could not shut them to their fear and pain, and from her shoulders Aileen gave a low moan.

“Aurgin, please don’t drop me,” she begged.

“No no, I’ve got you.”

“Please don’t leave me behind!”

She must be delirious! “You’re staying with me! I’m not going anywhere without you!” Tree branches whipped at them, roots underfoot snaring her feet, Aileen’s mace bouncing painfully off of the back of her arm.

Aileen’s warm breath broke across Aurgin’s ear and cheek. “Promise.”

“Promise what?” Aurgin asked, glad to be hearing something other than the frantic yells from behind.

“Promise you’ll never leave me.”

Delirious indeed. “I promise.”

Maker appeared so suddenly Aurgin almost jumped. “I have found a stream.”

The screams from behind were lessening. Not intensity, but number. An echoing crunched reached them and one voice was silenced. All three turned their heads.

“We must go, now!” Maker commanded.

Aurgin stumbled to the small stream. It was barely more than a brook, but that was all they needed. They paused only to hand their packs and some of their equipment over the Maker who forded it with their things held high above its head. Aurgin picked Aileen back up, then marched into the middle of the stream. She shivered fiercely.

“Aileen, girl, I’m sorry but this is going to be really cold,” she apologized.

“Do it.”

The icy water enveloped them as Aurgin crouched and dunked them both under water. The minuscule light from the stars vanished, and their world was one of darkness and cold. Aurgin counted to ten heartbeats before standing again. The screams had stopped, and the silence filled her with a worse dread than the noise had. Forcing herself to move she chased after Maker on the far bank. Though she could not jog, Aurgin insisted she could still march. Together, the bruised group forged their way through the woods as fast as they could.

The night was at its darkest when they stumbled into a large clearing. It was a camp, ringed by hewn tree stumps and make-shift fabric walls. There were both tents and rickety wooden huts, and three charcoal-filled fire pits. The area was empty, the fire pits cold. Still with an eye behind them, Aurgin and Maker snuck in. Quick glances into the tents and the huts confirmed they were empty. They had the same guess at the same time.

“They must be the ones who blocked the road.”

“Do you think they left a trail back to the ambush from here?

Both nervously looked back the way they came. “I will keep watch, go set her down,” Maker said.

Aurgin laid Aileen out in one of the huts on a deer fur rug. From their packs she dug out Aileen’s bedroll and a blanket.

“Don’t leave, you promised,” Aileen murmured as Aurgin awkwardly tried to maneuver the cleric into the sleeping bag.

“Just a little guard duty. Making sure we aren’t being followed,” Aurgin crooned. “I’ll be back soon.”

“You promised!” Aileen whined. Aurgin patted her head soothingly before standing up and reuniting with Maker.

“Anything yet?”

“No. You are exhausted. Go sleep.”

Aurgin shook her head. “I should keep watch.”

Maker cocked their head. “I do not need sleep. You do. How would you be a better sentinel than I?”

Well, good point. “I suppose that makes sense. Can you see in the dark?”

“Better than you can,” Maker said flatly. “Moe is out in the woods. It can tell me if it sees anything.”

“Okay. Thank you for your help tonight.”

“I was hoping our first night together would be different.”

“I was too,” Aurgin said with a chuckle. “I imagined more drinking or eating or sleeping.”

She slunk off to the hut. The dread lingered, but her fatigue overwhelmed it. Aileen was fast asleep, and as soon as Aurgin stuffed herself into her sleeping bag she was too. That night she dreamed of dark shapes under the forest canopy. Awful points of light glaring back at her, unnatural calls threatening to deafen her. The fear broke when she felt a hand take hers, and realized Aileen was right beside her, staring down the same beasts.

Aileen woke up the next morning holding hands with Aurgin. Her dreams had been blissfully empty of dreams, and she suspected Tain’s watchful eye had guarded her. I’m holding hands with Aurgin? She reached out with her mind with a small prayer.

“Tain?” she asked. “What was that?”

SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING ABHORRENT.

“But what?”

THIS FORM OF DEMON HAS NO NAME.

Tain rarely fostered discussion of demons, though they were still known of. Malignant spirits with twisted forms that sought to torture the minds and bodies of the Folk. They were the inhabitants of the Hell of Torment. Deep in the untouched forests of the world there were gates to the hell, though they were not the constructed gates of Man or Dwarf. Instead, all one had to do was walk between the wrong pair of trees and they would be lost forever in a dimension of misery.

The thought of accidentally sprinting through its gates in the dark sent a shiver down Aileen’s spine, and she groped at Aurgin’s arm with her free hand for support. I am holding Aurgin’s hand! Finally the thought got through to her and she recoiled, accidentally jostling the Mathuni woman awake. Aurgin sat up yawning and blinking bleary eyes.

“Morning, glad we are in one piece. I had a dream with you in it, actually.”

“Oh?” Aileen said with forced normalcy.

“Yeah, but the monster was there too,” Aurgin said, her face falling.

Aileen changed the subject. “Where are we? Is this a house?”

“No, we ran into a camp last night. Maker and I think it belongs to our would-be ambushers?”

“Our who?” All Aileen could remember were terrible noises and screams, a flash of freezing cold water, then nothing.

Aurgin stood and began to check over her things, filling in the gaps in Aileen’s memory. She told her about the downed tree and the cowering Folk, the screams and chirps and the crunch. Aileen cringed at that, and Aurgin did not blame her. When the Mathuni got to their dip in the river, Aileen let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh good, I was worried I had pissed my bedroll.”

The smile Aurgin cracked was worth the entire night of misery. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had.”

“I need–we need to change,” Aileen said with a face. She could smell herself, dunk in the river or not. Aurgin nodded.

“I’ll go find a different tent.”

Aileen stopped just short of asking why. “Okay. Thank you. Show me the river, after. I need to wash.”

Once they finished changing and wincing at the state of their armor, they met Maker by the side of a small fire. The Sentenate had little to report.

“Nothing in the woods, nothing in the camp. None of the Folk from the road returned.”

Aurgin prepared a stir fry of vegetables, dried meat and boiled rice. Aileen was more than delighted to see more Mathuni food, and her growling stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. Aurgin felt the same and prudently began boiling another serving of rice as they ate. Maker looked on as the pair enjoyed a second serving, waiting until they were satisfied.

“I want to inspect the road and see what I can determine from the bodies there.”

Aurgin almost choked on a mouthful of water. Aileen shook her head. “I would rather not see what happened.”

“It is important to understand what is after us.”

“It isn’t after us anymore!” Aurgin argued. “Let’s take what we can from this camp and leave! I need to figure out where we are, besides.”

“I spoke with Tain this morning,” Aileen said, “they said it was a demon.”

Maker cocked its head. It occurred to Aileen that without lips, moving their head was the only way Maker could use body language. “What is a demon?”

Aurgin and Aileen shared a look. “What do you mean? Maybe you have a different word for it?” Aurgin chanced.

“It is unfamiliar, and has no translation in any language I know,” Maker insisted.

“We can talk about it later, then,” Aileen said. She ignored Aurgin’s confused look, and started searching the camp. The others joined in, and together they scoured every tent and bag. Despite the money being useless neither Aurgin nor Aileen could stop themselves from pocketing it. There were a few damaged bows and snapped strings. Dozens of broken or half-fletched arrows. Plenty of spears. No armor.

Aurgin picked at the busted rivets on her dented brigandine. “I don’t fancy running into anything with my armor like this. Are we sure we found everything?”

Aileen nodded with a sour look. She held up the helmet that she had found from the cave. “Even this won't be much help on its own.”

“It is likely they took their best equipment with them to the ambush,” Maker said. The women groaned.

“Fine, let’s scout it out,” Aileen said.

“I still don’t want to,” Aurgin whined.

Aileen was unimpressed. “But you will.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m going. Come on.”