“You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“If you’re so worried about it, maybe you shouldn’t’ve told me where to go.”

“Dude, I thought you were just gonna talk to them!”

“I am gonna talk to them, don’t you worry.”

“That’s not the part that scares me.” Vick trailed off as he looked towards Andy’s clenching fists. The two were on their way to Black Peak—Cici, despite her offer to be a guide to the settlement, lagged far behind. Regardless of the group’s pacing, an anxious anticipation built up in their minds the more and more Andy explained what he had intended on doing once he got there.

Boy, those Rangers had hell to pay.

The boy stormed along with little regard for his own wellbeing, his own safety—he was absolutely determined to find the person in charge and demand to know everything; if Butch was the one who attacked his family, if they were truly planning on having him go unpunished, anything they knew, really. After finding all that out, Andy was going to beat the living daylights out of whoever was responsible for covering this whole thing up, starting with Hudson himself…that was the initial plan, at least. The more he climbed the mountain, and the more Vick yammered on about the danger the Rangers posed, Andy’s confidence began to wane. However, stubborn as he was, he was not going to allow himself to sit idly by as some grave injustice was allowed. There had to be some form of consequence—that was only fair in his eyes.

After traveling by foot for the better half of the day, the high rooftops of the encampment at last came into view. The teenaged trio each breathed a sordid sigh. It was a scenic journey, for sure, but the stress put on their legs going uphill for so long was due for some much-needed relief.

“How much further, do ya reckon?” Andy asked, turning to Cici. It took her a moment to respond, carefully trying to split their stems down the middle of a leaf—sheesh, if only she was this concentrated on the mission at hand.

“Cici?”

“Huh? Uh—I think like, four, five minutes? It’s a bit further ahead than it looks.”

“We haven’t seen any guards yet,” Vick observed. “Not too late to turn back.”

“You really don’t have to tag along if you don’t want to.”

Vick hummed and considered the offer, shaking his head. “No, I’d rather not miss this.”

As he rolled his eyes, Andy spotted a few stands high up in the trees—watchpoints, he figured, the same kind he’d likely been seen from during his initial journey toward town. Sure enough, keeping his gaze fixed to the canopy, he managed to gander the odd body mulling about here and there, guardsmen draped in sturdy leather armor. They gave him and his colleagues the stink eye and gestured to one another. A few more guards, positioned at the ground level, began to make themselves known, coming out of the brush and onto the trail, halting the triad in place.

One guard, an Elf, was incredibly tall, with a wild beard as bushy as the long hair that fell around his shoulders. The other that joined him, a lizard-like woman with long dark spines, was half as tall as the teenagers, although built with four times the muscle. Accompanying the two guards, a wing-bearing creature about the size of a husky stomped its heavy talons onto the path—like a gryphon, bearing the features of both a bald eagle and a big cat—this one had a face like an owl, and the impressive neck-work to boot, as it twisted its head to inspect the teens. .

“You children are a long way from home,” spoke the elf. “State your business or begone.”

Andy stepped forward, taking in a shaky breath and puffing his chest out. “I’m here to speak with whoever is in charge.”

The two guards looked at each other with baffled expressions then narrowed their eyes.

“Yeah? And who’re you?” asked the Kobold. Andy’s fists clenched at his sides.

“I’m the boy Butch Davis attacked. You people let him off scott-free—I wanna know why.”

The guards’ eyes widened—the two stepped back for a moment, whispering into one another’s ears—their gryphon, bored, yawned and took a seat. Though he had a strong urge to approach and pet the thing as he waited for their response, Andy held fast. Best not get into any more trouble than he was already. The two guards once more approached.

“Follow me, and make no sudden moves,” the Elf said. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”

“Sheesh, relax. We’re just kids.” Vick blurted, earning him a dirty look from everyone present. A bit miffed by the reaction, he shrugged his shoulders and tried to play it off.

The encampment, even from ground level, gave the teen tourists quite the view, the gibbous moon shining through the thick leaves up above. Andy’s worried eyes traced from the foreboding celestial body down to the treetop bungalows. From the many homes nestled among the wood, the boy’s gaze shifted toward the borderline jungle-gym of a layout the settlement provided. It looked as though anywhere he’d want to get to in the area was going to require a climb.

The Elf led the party toward a small plateau which had a wide cargo net hanging from its flat top. The plateau itself fostered a large, round hut with wooden sides and a thatched straw roof—it was one of the few buildings in the settlement which didn’t appear embedded into any of the surrounding trees.

Andy had helped to build a treehouse with his mom, around a year ago. It was a spur of the moment project, the local lumber yard having had a sale going on at the time. Martin was always busy with work, so the two stay-at-home Kesslers had a lot of time to themselves. Andy loved sitting up there during the day, studying, observing…

It was the perfect spot to watch them critters from.

The memory faded, and the boy came too after his ascension up the wooden wall. The group gathered at the front entrance to the hut while the Elf barked an order to his contemporary—the Kobold nodded and leapt away.

“We will wait here until the Elders arrive,” said the remaining guard. “They will discuss this matter with you further.”

The group was led into the building—inside was a circle of tree stump seats, some kind of stone-lined fire pit lying in its center. Andy raised a brow at this, focus switching between the pit and the closed roof. The ventilation here didn’t seem to accommodate such a thing. Perhaps its true purpose was something else…though he doubted it would be anything sensible.

Once everybody was seated, the elf smacked the bottom of his spear against the floor to get everyone’s attention—two stocky figures cloaked in a royal purple stood at the entrance.

“Show respect for your Elders,” the Elf hissed in a hushed voice, bowing his head toward the doorway. Cici and Vick looked at one another and followed without much comment—Andy, however, continued to sit up semi-straight as he eyed the arriving party. Anger dominated his browline. One of the Elders to immediately sized the boy up—this Elder was huge, an Orc with great green shoulders and mighty tusks, covered from head to toe in white symbols and war paint. He stood before Andy, hot breath shooting from his wide nose, waiting expectantly for the boy to bow his head—a gesture that did not come. Andy only stood by, further furrowing his brows. The Orc let out an amused snort, and sat down right across.

“So you are the whelp I’ve heard so much about.” the large man greeted.

“You’ve…heard about me?”

“Plenty, from Elder Davis.”

Andy’s eyes widened. He just about lunged forward.

“Where is he?”

The Orc laughed. “I take it you two have unfinished business?”

“Lots.”

“Regardless,” spoke the other figure in the doorway. “You are in no place to be asking such questions.”

The second Elder approached, a Satyr woman with large, curved horns, her hooves clattering matter-of-factly against the wooden floor as she stepped to her seat. Andy’s scornful gaze quietly followed.

“I am Elder Fia, this is Elder Balrog. You find yourselves at the center of Black Peak, our sacred grounds, and resting place of our mother-goddess Shub-Nekkurat. Any action you take, any words you speak from here on can and will have dire consequences. Knowing this, do consider your position carefully when you address us.”

“Oh, I’ve considered my position plenty,” Andy bit back. “And I think, considerin’ the circumstances, y’all owe me this.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We owe you?” Fia’s upper lip quivered.

“Yer doggone right, ya do.”

“Tell me, what is it you want with Elder Davis?”

A beat of silence. Andy could only focus on the ground. His hands fumbled over themselves.

“I want justice for what he did to my family.”

“And that will come in time. We are not blind to Elder Davis’s transgressions.”

“Is that why you’re hidin’ him away, givin’ him special treatment while I’m stuck here, twiddlin’ my thumbs an’ wonderin’ if I’ll ever see my family again?”

“Elder Davis is to face exile,” Fia interjected. “That is what we, as a council, have decided.”

“No no no, that’s a load,” Vick said as he dug for his notebook. “We saw the docs for ourselves. Hudson’s granting Davis complete qualified immunity—he’s just gonna be staying at his little treehouse until this whole thing blows over. You guys are just hoping Andy forgets about all this and moves on.”

“As would be best for all of you,” The corners of Fia’s lips twitched. “The Order knocks on our door. Resources, people, they are limited. You could not even begin to understand the circumstances we face.”

Vick sneered. “Well, we’ll see how you feel about your circumstances after I get all this in print.”

“Oh, I know all about your little publication, Roldán. Do you forget where you are? Your position here?”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” Andy snarled.

Balrog’s smile continued to grow. What gusto this child had—the warrior-Elder couldn’t help but be intrigued—before Fia could say another word, the green giant raised a hand into the air. Everyone’s eyes locked on his. Balrog beckoned Andy with his large fingers.

“You have fire, boy. Stand up.”

Andy scowled. “What?”

“There has never come peace before tribulation. You have come to our home with anger in your heart—we must release it.”

“Are you asking me to fight you?”

“I’m asking you to try.”

Andy’s brows twitched and furrowed. He got to his feet, nervously, looking to his friends for support—they merely watched on, Vick shaking his head, Cici grinding her beak together. Tch. Well what did they know? Not a moment’s hesitation. Fists clenched, eyes shut, Andy ran forward with a shout and threw a wide hook at Balrog’s jaw—the orc tanked it, his head hardly shoved to the side. Andy’s breathing picked up. His rage turned to fear.

“Was that it?” Balrog grunted.

In a panic, Andy threw one punch after another, some into Balrog’s chest, some into his stomach, into his arms, his neck, nothing seemed to phase the giant beyond a slight grunt here and there. In the middle of Andy’s flurry, a mighty leg thrust forward into his stomach, Balrog’s sole crushing the boy’s ribcage in one hit. Andy went flying back, landing on his back, all the air knocked from his lungs. Though they watched in relative horror, neither Vick nor Cici could bring themselves to do something about it. This was Andy’s kerfuffle, not theirs.

Andy wheezed and got to his feet, a low growl building up in his throat. Locked onto Balrog, he let out another shout, and ran right toward his doom. Just one good hit was all he wanted, one good satisfying blow. This wasn’t his guy, per say, but it darn near felt close to it. With a running jump, Andy sent as best of a dropkick as he could into Balrog’s gut. However, the Orc deflected the attack, gut shooting out, Andy’s momentum being sent back the other way. Balrog marched forward now. Whump. He just about crushed the boy beneath his feet, as his hands came down to grapple him. Andy rolled out of the way, although he now found his back against the wall, and with this ogrish man stumbling toward him, reaching for his face, why, he felt as though he may prematurely be meeting his doom.

Balrog did get to Andy, eventually, despite the boy’s kicking and screaming. He manhandled the boy, grasping him tight by both of his arms and hoisting him into the air—Balrog’s odorous breath wafted into Andy’s nostrils. The boy could practically taste what the man had for supper.

“Come all this way for nothing, is that it?” The Orc would taunt. “Don’t you want your retribution? So much rage, and that is all you can do?”

Andy squirmed and writhed in Balrog’s grasp, trying and failing to break his arms free. It was a pointless struggle, however. Balrog’s thick, sausage-like fingers only tightened in their vice grip. Andy could feel himself breaking. With no other option left, the boy braced himself, and reared his head, bringing his browline hard into Balrog’s puggish nose.

KROK!

The room fell silent, Andy being dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his head throbbing, his legs giving out from under him. Balrog groaned, snorted, and blasted a bloody snot to the ground with one puff. Dark crimson trickled down his grinning face.

“There it is.”

The Orc wiped his face with his forearm and took a seat. Andy, still on the ground behind him, got right to his feet, sniveling, hunching, breathing in short bursts. Balrog held up a hand.

“Come. Join us.”

Back to it, then? Andy’s aching head did not care to question it. He got back to his seat.

“Now, how did that make you feel?” Balrog asked. Andy’s nose wrinkled.

“Huh?”

“I am serious. How did that make you feel?”

“I—I dunno.”

“Do you feel better in any way?”

“...No.”

Grunt. Balrog crossed his arms, looking to Fia; the Satyr spoke once more.

“The justice you seek will not be granted with vengeance. That is but a simple fact.”

““I just—I want y’all to be doin’ somethin’ about this!”

“We will be—very soon.”

“You must have patience, boy.” Balrog said.

“We find ourselves in a delicate position. Elder Davis is an important figure in our society. He has many roles and responsibilities that we cannot entrust to anyone else—responsibilities he cannot fulfill during his exile, ones that will now fall to us on top of everything else.”

What responsibilities, what roles would be so important that they couldn’t just find a replacement? It didn’t make a lick of sense. Beneath her justifications, Vick got the feeling that Fia was still holding out.

“His roles don’t explain anything. It doesn’t even explain why you’d exile him—I’d hardly even call it an exile to begin with, you’re just putting him under house arrest. To me it just seems like you don’t want to lose your best man while we’re under pressure from the humans.”

Balrog snorted. “Observant one, you are. That is part of it, yes. Davis is a brilliant strategist and a strong shield-brother. I would not trust a single acolyte under my command more than I trust him to protect my back.”

“But like many things,” Fia cut in. “It is not so simple. We do have our laws for a reason. Laws that nobody is above, not even Elder Davis.”

“Then why ain’t you enforcin’ them?” Andy asked.

“...Because it is not so simple.” Fia turned to Vick, staring right through his soul. He could feel a cold tingle down his spine. “You and the girl are to leave.”

“Aw, what?” Cici protested. Vick crossed his arms.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because if I find a word of this in your publication I will personally come down there myself to burn it to the ground—this is merely a precaution…for you.”

Vick scoffed and got up. “Point taken. Cya, Andy.”

The elven guard waltzed Cici and Vick to the entrance and, presumably, far from earshot. Andy waved goodbye to his peers as they left the room, shuddering as the hut’s doors were closed behind them. His eyes traced back to the two Elders. The both of them looked to each other and sighed. Fia was first to speak.

“Elder Davis has a human child—a little girl, no more than six years of age. If this were to get out…”

Andy sighed. “Wouldn’t be good?”

The Elders nodded their heads.

“Many of the people living here are afraid of the humans, viscerally so. For generations, they have continued to take and take, pillage and destroy. They are resistant to our magic, they are ignorant of our customs—they are a danger to us all. If they knew one was being harbored just on the outskirts of their home, why, they might assume that she is a spy.”

“...But—but she’s only six.”

“For now. But she will eventually grow older—old enough to become afraid of us. Old enough to reciprocate our prejudice, sell us out to the Natural Order. In the people’s eyes, it is only a matter of time before she becomes a monster. And when the people see a monster, well, I am sure I do not need to tell you what happens.”

“So you need Davis to raise her in secret.”

“Until she is old enough to return to human society, yes. We cannot risk her knowing of the rest of us, and the rest of us cannot risk knowing of her.”

Andy’s leg bounced up and down. He chewed on the words of the Elder for a moment, weighing the options. There were still so many questions, so many little inconsistencies that bothered him. Damn it. No matter what he said, Andy continued to feel cornered. There was no way of resolving this without creating more burdens, more conflict. Was revenge worth the price of admission, of traumatizing someone else? But then again, was he really going to just let Butcher get away with it? No, they said punishment was coming. He just had to…trust the system, right?

A system that had done nothing for him so far.

And what if it didn’t? It wasn’t like he could do anything about it. He was weak—a small, scared boy. Balrog had demonstrated this already. Despite all his rage, Andy really was, at the end of the day, ultimately powerless. The familiar sting of tears filled his eyes, his fingers grasped at the legs of his shorts.

“I know it is frustrating, but we cannot afford discourse amongst ourselves. We all have a common enemy at our borders, ready to strike at the slightest hint of weakness. Together we are stronger—it really is better this way.”

The words sounded sour to Andy, coming from his detractor’s mouth. It really was looking as though he’d just have to hunker down and bide his time, wait and wait until something was done about it. The grip on his legs grew tighter by the second, he felt as though he’d snap, like a rubber band pulled thin—not an option he had. As the hot tears began to stream down his face, Andy got to his feet. Though he attempted to acknowledge the Elders, when the words got to his mouth they’d come out in a mess. The shock and fear and frustration had all finally gotten to him. His emotions were incoherent. Just a bow of the head then, for now. Andy very quickly slouched out of the hut. His friends were waiting for him at the village entrance.

“How’d it go, what’d they say?” Vick asked as he trotted up.

Andy considered telling his friend for a moment, the words nearly slipping from his lips. He remembered the Elder’s threat, however. Andy could tell Vick was a gossip, and with how fast word spread in a small town…if what they were saying about that little girl was true, he didn’t want to be the one responsible for her suffering. Rather than acknowledge the Vampire’s question, he simply continued to walk past, his head hanging low.

“Woah, woah, c’mon, don’t be like that!” Vick begged.

“Is everything okay?” asked Cici.

“You know what happens if I tell you.” Andy quietly said. Vick scoffed.

“I don’t care about some empty threat, man, this is important stuff.”

Sighing, Andy looked his friend in the eyes. “Just go home, Vick. There’s no story for you here.”

“I think you should listen to Andy,” Cici chimed in as she saw Vick open his mouth. Disappointed, the Vampire left Andy with a dirty look and a roll of his eyes. With that, the boy continued his somber walk down the beaten forest path, followed at a distance by the others.

It was midnight by the time Andy got back to the old cabin. He hadn’t even said goodbye to his friends before shutting the door. His will thoroughly broken down, there was not much to stop him from jumping face-first into his bed. His face felt as though it was burning up. His head throbbed with an incumbent migraine. All he wanted to do was scream.

The coming tantrum was cut quite short, however, when a magenta flicker in the corner of the room caught his eye, accompanied by a familiar hum—the boy gasped as the crystal ball, rolling out from his hastily strewn-about bookbag, came to life. Andy eyed it with confusion, suspicion, wondering who would be contacting him at this hour. Was it Cici, attempting to console him after being so quiet? Vick trying to reconcile after being pushy? Before he could wonder for long, the glow faded away. Tch. Whatever wonder the boy had faded along with it. He picked it up and placed it back on its stand, and went back to bed.