After the meal, Amelia showed me to the abbey down by the lake. On the way there, we passed by a number of vacant houses, suggesting that the population used to be larger.

The abbey turned out to be less of a chapel, or a place for worship, and a lot more of an orphanage. In fact, the entire place had been converted to that purpose alone. In place of pews in the nave, bunk beds occupied the area, while study desks and chairs were arranged facing two blackboards.

Children hushed down when we entered. They pointed fingers in my direction while whispering among themselves in excited tones. I was surprised by their reaction. I fully expected them to run and hide, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Amelia took me up the stairs to a small room containing the minimum of furnishings. Bed, desk for one, chair, and wardrobe. I loved it. One window looked down into the nave and another gave a view of the entire village.

“Just how many orphans are here?” I asked her.

“Twenty,” Amelia replied.

“And there’s about two-hundred or so villagers in total?”

“One hundred and eighty nin- seven.”

I wanted to get back to the Dark Night topic, but without sounding like I had no idea what it meant.

“Three days, right?” I asked her.

Amelia nodded. “We are barely hanging on here. All the strong have either died or left. I don’t know if we could survive another Dark Night, but thank the gods that you’re here.”

“I see, I see. And uhm, how- how bad is it?”

Turns out, the Dark Night was akin to a monthly locust swarm, but instead of small harmless insects, these monsters varied in size from as little as a bunny and up to a bear. Amelia listed off a number of names that didn’t sound at all like animals at the petting zoo.

To defend themselves, the villagers would burn a great pyre through the night on the lake’s shore. Bright light kept the monsters at bay, but only mostly. On any normal night, similar monsters could be found lurking outside in the woods, but far fewer in number.

I had to get busy and fast. I had to figure out whether to stick around for this coming calamity, or get the hell out of this place. But where would I go? This Dark Night thing sounded global to me, and it made a lot more sense to be inside these walls next to the pyre, than outside in the dark. Thankfully, she didn’t expect me to fight the whole thing myself. The villagers came together as a militia.

“I’ll need weapons and armor,” I said. “So I could help more effectively. As you can see, I have arrived a bit … empty-handed.”

Amelia looked relieved when I said it. “That won’t be a problem. Just ask anyone in the village for anything you’d need, and I’m certain they’d be more than happy to help.”

“Okay, wonderful,” I said, but I had my doubts. We’ll see about that.

After she left, I watched the sun set past the trees far to the west. Night arrived and they shut the palisade gates. They also lit lanterns attached to every corner of the buildings. The multi-colored lights made it feel like it was Christmas outside. They looked a lot like light bulbs, but I didn’t see any electrical wiring. Maybe they were powered by magic?

The kids were herded back into the abbey, and they promptly started a ruckus. Amelia wasn’t the only one watching over the kids, but there was another with her of similar age, but unlike Amelia, she wasn’t dressed as a nun.

I opened the wardrobe and was shocked to see my reflection. A candle provided just enough light to paint a grim picture. While I was glad to see my familiar face looking back at me, everything else was alien. I was taller and heavily muscled. The gray skin varied in shade from darker at the hands and legs, to lighter at the chest and belly.

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The thick glasses I had grown accustomed to were gone, yet my vision was better than perfect. I ran my clawed hands through my hair and around large horns that felt smooth, solid as stone, and equally cold. It felt surreal to swish my tail from side to side as if it was a natural part of me.

Aside from the mirror, the wardrobe was empty. I looked at my status screen in greater detail. My attributes weren’t naturally high, but as a result of a single racial trait.

* [Drakon’s Hoard]

* Gain attributes based on your current gold

* The hoard must be on person, or guarded to apply

Except, I didn’t have any gold on me besides the golden key and the coin. I seriously doubted that a few grams provided the massive +231 bonus. This meant that there was a hoard somewhere in this world with my name on it, and if I had to guess, the golden key had something to do with it. Going to look for it wouldn’t be wise right now as I was clueless about the dangers in this world. Also, who knows what enemies the actual ‘owner’ of this hoard had?

Right now, the hoard was guarded, which was why [Drakon’s Hoard] still gave me +231 in attributes, but at any moment, it could all vanish if someone took it, or it became unguarded. If that happened, I’d be as strong as any villager here. I didn’t like that at all. I had to work fast and get some levels before that happened. Also, I needed to find gold for myself, that way I’d have something to fall back on.

My other racial was [Versatile] which granted an extra Profession on top of Cartography. Selecting the racial gave me a long list of professions that I could choose from. Some looked appealing, but I wanted to find out more about professions before picking one.

Amelia must have trusted me to give me a place to stay near all these children. I needed to work on repaying their kindness. Before blowing out the candle and going to bed, I wedged a chair under the handle of the door just in case, then also shifted the wardrobe to further barricade it.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and I’d need every bit of rest I could get. However, I knew sleep was going to be hard to come by on this first night in a new place. While I was a natural side-sleeper, the damned horns wouldn’t let me lie on my side, not without craning my neck in an ungodly angle.

I assumed that the wool blanket with a pleasant floral scent would be itchy, but it didn’t bother my thicker skin. There was a benefit to being a monster after all.

***

“Why would you invite him to stay at the abbey?” Darya asked Amelia. “We've got kids around here, you know?”

The two were getting ready for bed. Their room above the abbey kitchen was just as bare and frugal as the rest of the place. Two beds, a writing desk, chairs, bookshelf, a chest and a couple of wardrobes.

“Why? Do you believe they’re much too rowdy?”

“No. He’s going to eat one,” Darya said matter-of-factly.

Amelia scoffed. “Be serious, sister.”

“Fair enough, I guess. They're not exactly tasty, are they?”

Amelia chuckled. “Yeah, that’s the issue I took with what you said.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re having problems trusting others after Aiden?”

“That arsehole took everything I had. Everything.”

“I know, you’ll get it all back, and more. This village will be prosperous again, you’ll see.”

“You're quite optimistic about this guy, huh?”

Amelia nodded. “He’s very polite.”

Darya sighed. “I hate polite. Bill is polite, and look at what an actual asshole he really is.”

Amelia looked surprised. “Bill? Bill the tax collector?”

“Yeah, him. We pay and we pay, and for what? He's a thief! When he shows up, he's all promises, but where's the help he was supposed to send? Huh?”

“As you recall, the soldiers had regretfully died on their journey here.”

“And yet, he arrives here safe and well every year, doesn’t he? What a surprise, huh? Nobody was sent, it’s all just lies.”

“It doesn’t matter, the Great Mother has provided for us with more than we need.”

Darya hooked her thumb in the direction of the cemetery. “Yeah, in bloody gravestones.”

“Must you always be so-”

“Did he tell you his name?”

Amelia nodded with a self-satisfied smile. “Kaveen.”

Darya drew in a breath. “Ooh, that’s a .. that’s a strong name.”

Amelia nodded enthusiastically. “It really is, isn’t it? Kaveen the Hellbringer.”

“Just the sound of it makes me tingle.”

“Now that’s power.”