Over the next few days Luna tried to gather enough courage to confess everything to her parents. But no matter what, Everwood's warning would not stop nagging her, a constant reminder in her head. She might look like it and she might even feel like it, but she was not human.

The days stretched into a week, then two and Luna pushed the problem back, until it was no longer of primary concern to her. She instead focused on doing her job as a Hunter for the village and acting as normal as possible, while at the same time trying to stock up on travel rations and trade for additional clothing, an extra pair of reinforced leather boots, basically an extra of all things she normally carried with her when going outside. At least of the things that were easy to get. An extra string for her bow was easy enough, but getting an additional bow basically impossible.

It was another beautiful Sunday morning when Jonas surprised her when she was leaving the village. It was one of her free days again and she had been looking forward to going towards her new favorite spot close to the forest. Maybe she would get lucky and even find another one of the elusive mountain cats, the fur would get her a good trade and she still needed some additional winter gear, just in case she had to leave while there was snow about. Crossing a snow covered plain without snowshoes and packed in warm furs would make travel a pain, reducing the distance covered in a day to just a few kilometers, less if it was snowing at the same time.

As she left the village, Jonas' voice sounded behind her. Turning around she saw him leaning in the shadow of the wooden stockade next to the village gate. "Hey Luna, I am about to start my round. Care to join me? I have some questions for you."

A bit surprised Luna just went along. "Alright, but I was looking for another mountain cat for its pelt. So I might have to leave you later and head further out."

Jonas caught up to her and they began his usual patrol. Since Luna now had her own skills increasing stamina and regeneration, they could go further out. They walked in companionable silence until they left the fields behind them and nobody was around to overhear them talk.

"So Luna, I was told that you have been bringing in a lot of meat and trading for things. The other Hunters are getting a tad nervous, as we all have to make a living and one over eager new Hunter bringing in that much is not exactly ideal. There are only so many people in the village and if you run around and supply everyone at the same time, there isn't much for us left to do. Mind you, it is not a problem yet, but it is better to talk about it now, before it becomes one and people start getting angry."

Luna had been expecting a lot of things and any kind of question, but this was not one of them. Surprised by the line of questioning she had to think about a reply for a second, as none of the excuses would work here. "Uhm, I did not think about that." She replied lamely. "I have just been trying to get some extra things for trading with the crafters. You know the basic gear isn't going to get me very far, right? Especially if it turns to winter and I still need to go out there. I mean sure, I am working to protect the village, but I have just started out and I do not have all that fancy Hunter equipment you guys have now, after years of doing the job."

Jonas nodded at that. "We expected it was something like that, but also thought it better to ask and put it out in the open. You know that the Hunters have an agreement to not go out of our way to 'out-hunt' each other. All of us need to be able to make a living from this, otherwise it won't work for the village. But that isn't all, your parents asked me if I had noticed you being distant recently. I had not noticed anything, but we rarely see each other. So, is everything all right?"

Luna hesitated, the doubt holding her back. Could she trust anyone with what she knew? She had not even told anyone everything about her dreams and memories. Not even her parents knew she remembered something about the people who attacked her parents 12 years ago. Could she trust Jonas with it? She kind of needed more advice and since he had left the village before, he would be the ideal person. So it came down to the question, did she trust him to keep things quiet?

No matter what, she needed any help she could get and Jonas was the only person she knew who might be able to give advice on things outside the village. Sure, the headman might also be able to, but his primary concern was the village, not her. So he did not make the cut.

Luna decided to take the leap, but not out here walking around. "Let us talk once we can take a break somewhere. I think it might take a while and sitting down for that sounds like a great idea to me."

Voicing his agreement Jonas started walking again and they shifted back to silence. With the faster pace they covered ground quickly and when they reached a good spot to refill their water skins and take a break, Jonas called the halt.

"Alright, this is as good as any spot we will find today. So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Luna sat, made herself comfortable and gathered her thoughts. "Alright, so you know that I was not born in the village, but that I was found around 12 years ago but some of the village Hunters. Were you one of them? Because I have started to wonder why any of you would even be that far away from the village. Do you know?"

Jonas looked at her surprised. "I was not aware that you remembered all that much about that day. But you are correct, I was there. I did not find you, but I was ranging around the area looking for clues for what might have happened to a caravan of settlers. We had been informed in a message, delivered by a merchant, that a small group of people would be coming out to Creek Springs to settle down. They never made it and the headman sent us out to follow the road and look for them."

Luna nodded along with the explanation. "Yes, that does make sense. I do remember more of that now, during my Rite I unlocked a skill that gave me back some of the memories and I remember being part of the caravan and us being attacked at night."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Who was it?" Jonas asked in a serious tone. "We found some arrows and crude weapons that indicated a monster incident, which was basically unheard off. We never had anything happen around here and everyone was really concerned for a while. The weird thing was, we did not find a single track leading away into the wilderness, nor any monster lairs or dungeons. And the monsters never showed up again since.

"Please do not tell anyone. I didn't even tell my parents, since I do not know what to make of it. They weren't monsters at all. They were humans. And one of them said to not leave any witnesses, that it was supposed to look like a monster attack. They had covered their shields with black cloth, but I still saw part of the coat of arms. A golden gryphon on a green field."

"What do you mean it was humans? Do you know how serious this is? And this coat of arms, do not tell anyone about it. If it comes out you saw that, you will be in serious danger. Do you know who that coat of arms belongs to?" Luna shook her head and Jonas continued. "It belongs to the royal house of Demholt. You are saying the royal guard of another kingdom attacked you, killed everyone and then made it look like a monster attack. This has the rotten smell of politics clinging to it."

Jonas walked towards Luna and looked down at her sitting form. Putting emphasis on every word he repeated his previous advice. "Do. Not. Tell. A. Soul."

Turning around he started to pace in front of Luna, explaining the implications. "If it came out that anyone in this village knew what you just told me, they might just decide to silence us all. And by that I not only mean the Demholt's, I mean our king as well. If it came out that another kingdom had attacked and there was no retaliation, that would look really bad. Better it never came out. You have a duty as a Hunter to not endanger us, understood? You keep shut. Do not even tell your parents."

Luna was completely taken aback by Jonas' response. She had not even considered the consequences could reach the village. Kingdom politics was something so far away from their village, it was ludicrous to think that her knowledge could have an effect on that.

"I understand." She assured Jonas. "But that is only one of the things I needed to talk to you about. "I will keep my mouth shut, I do not want to put you, or anyone else, especially not my parents, in any danger. But you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone about what I am about to tell you either. Otherwise you will put me in danger, can you promise that?"

Jonas had stopped pacing and was now looking at Luna thoughtfully. "If that wasn't already serious enough, then I really need to know what you are about to say next. Alright, I promise that I will not tell anyone, except if necessary to maintain the security of the village. Is that good enough for you?"

Luna nodded, knowing that it was the best she was about to get from him. "Do you have [Identify] and can see people's names, levels and race?" At Jonas' nod she removed the [Ring of Human Guise] from her finger and told him. "Identify me."

"Explain." Was his only reply.

"During the Rite my race changed from human to human/dryad. I had no idea what was going on. I never showed anything suspicious until then, only that I had two extra personal skills that were shown as [Locked]. Since I did not know what they were, I never told anyone. Imagine my surprise when they started doing things after the Rite."

Luna stopped to take a swig of water from her water skin and went on. "One was called [Dryad's Eyes] and let me see in the dark and the other [Ancestral Memories], it is the reason I remember the attack the night my parents were killed. But not long ago, I started getting the feeling of being watched while outside the village. I never saw anyone and started thinking I was just paranoid, until I saw someone waving towards me and I followed them into Everwood."

Raising her hand to stall Jonas' comment she just kept talking. "Yes I know what you are about to say. Are you stupid?. Maybe, but it did not turn out that way. Let me tell you what I found in the forest and then you can judge yourself."

And so Luna told Jonas about her visit in the grove, Everwood and her heritage. About all the things that had messed up her life and her decision to leave the village. She did not see another alternative. Just waiting for things to reach the point where she would be driven out did not seem like a good idea. Especially if her parents would be caught in the crossfire and she did not even want to think about the option of them rejecting her.

Jonas had sat down at some point, listening intently to Luna's story. When she finished he kept quiet for long enough to Luna to start making up horrible scenarios about how he might react.

"If it weren't for your race I would call bullshit. That tale is so tall, it is the stuff of drunken stories told around a fire. But here I am and I cannot find a reason to disbelieve you. I have never heard of the Sylvan race, and neither have I heard of the dryad Everwood, although her existence surely explains a few things. Believe it or not, even as an adventurer I never learned much about the different races that are supposed to be out there. Everyone has heard of Elves, Dwarves or Gnomes, but how are we supposed to know what is truth and what is fiction?"

Jonas sadly shook his head. "One time I heard a merchant tell stories of people who look very much like humans, but have fox ears on their heads. Can you imagine that? At first the people laughed at the merchant who kept telling the story, but he just insisted it was true and that he had traded with them. In the end some people took offense to his shameless lies and beat him up."

Jonas stood up and resumed his pacing. "Now the one thing I can confirm is that non-humans are not well liked inside the human kingdom. They are not allowed to settle here or travel through. At best they can trade with humans at border towns, but our kingdom has no border with any of the lands to the east. So if you wanted to confirm any of those stories, you would have to travel through Demholt or Zollan. So yes, if you are going to develop physical traits of your new race, then hiding will be impossible. I can only tell you to keep your secrets close to your chest, you never know what people might do and a hybrid of a human with something else? That might just be exotic enough for a wizard to be interested in."

Luna was looking at the ground dejectedly. She had still hoped that there might be some option for her to stay longer, or at least return at some point. It wasn't that leaving scared her, it was the rejection. The thought of never getting to return.

"So I will have to explain to my parents why I am leaving, while not really telling them why. That is going to suck, big time. Not telling them something while I figure things out, that is one thing. Now I will have to make up a lie."

Jonas returned to her sitting form and held out a hand to help her up. "You should tell them about your race and maybe Everwood, but you should not tell her anything else. They will understand why you are leaving and I know them well enough to know that they will keep it quiet. They might not be your real parents, but they still love you very much. Now come on. We need to finish the round and then we have some planning to do. You will need to get more travel supplies and then you will have to make up a story for the headman. Now won't that be a fun conversation?"

Luna sighed deeply. So many things to consider, so much to do.