Reud walked along the packed dirt road loading towards the centre of the village, Bo at this side, forcing himself not to run back and check on Lilia. He’d never hear the end of it if he returned to her without at least trying to find them some work. She was right, though. He couldn’t keep following her around everywhere.

He had to learn to give her freedom, no matter how much anxiety that brought him.

Stopping beside one of the houses, Reud drew in a long breath, letting the chill morning air fill his lungs. The sound of animals mingled with the faint chatter of conversation as the village slowly woke. The soothing sounds of life. Sounds he’d almost forgotten in his long years beneath Srinaber.

Reud couldn’t help but let a smile spread across his face. It was almost as if he was the one resurrected, instead of Lilia. In his mind’s eye, he could see his path, once straight as an arrow, now splitting off into a myriad of possible futures. With her in his life again, anything was possible.

A pang of hunger roused him from his thoughts, his body crying out for the normal needs of life.

A sign he’d left it long enough without restoring himself.

Closing his eyes, Reud focused in on himself, feeling the threads of soul magic that wove itself into every part of his body. The threads that stretched away to the north, to that place below Srinaber.

The secret of his longevity.

Touching the thread, he sent a pulse of mana along it, watching as it shot off along the iridescent line. In moments, a new pulse answered it, an order of magnitude greater in power, enough that a sharp-eyed observer would notice a telltale shimmer shooting through the air.

The pulse slammed into him, instantly seizing his body in its grip. It wasn’t a pulse of pure mana, but rather a complex, intricately detailed spell, thrumming with power. Mana tore through him, breaking down anything extra and reforming anything missing, restoring him to the template it carried with it.

Immediately, his hunger vanished, along with his fatigue, and the thirst he didn’t even realize was building. In its place came a bone deep ache, a faint headache, and the urgent need to sneeze. The exact same state he’d been in when he cast the spell centuries ago.

Back then, when he finally got to the point of attempting the spell, he was old. Fast approaching a century, shrivelled and decrepit. His face lined with wrinkles, with a back so hunched he had to crane his neck simply to look ahead. Not the form he wanted to spend the rest of eternity in.

So he’d turned his hand to biomancy.

Doing magic outside your affinity was devilishly difficult, extremely costly, and prone to explosive failure. Without the instinctive guidance an affinity granted you, even the slightest mistake could quickly spiral out of control with disastrous results.

Still, he’d had no choice.

With his extensive experience of crafting complex spells, and the ability to channel vast amounts of mana he’d honed over the years of research into eternal life, he’d been able to overcome his natural disadvantage and actually successfully reshaped his body. Yet, even with all those advantages, the results were... imperfect.

Yes, he’d managed to reform the body he’d dimly remembered from his youth, smoothed out the wrinkles and fixed his vision. But he’d made mistakes too. His skin and hair had come out corpse-pale, and he’d made a mistake in shaping his cheekbones that left a perpetual ache. His physical strength had also suffered in the change, his muscles coming out far weaker than he’d have liked.

Despite that, however, it was good enough.

It was that form he’d used to create the phylactery, to restore himself to if his body died, or if he triggered the spell manually. True eternal life, as long as the spell continued to be fuelled with sufficient mana.

And the place he’d cast it would take care of that particular requirement.

Reud opened his eyes and set off into the village centre, Bo walking along a step behind him. That would be the best place to seek out any outstanding adventurer work. Back in his day, there would have been a dedicated guild for collating and distributing such work, anything from acquiring rare materials to slaying some overly bothersome chimera. It was the first place he and Lilia would have stopped in each settlement they visited. A happy life, simply exploring with friends by his side.

Back before Lightire invaded and ruined it all.

Shaking off the unhappy thought, Reud entered the village square. It was a large open area, bordered by tightly packed houses. A few children played to one side, chasing each other with sticks, a large hound bounding along behind them. The sound of hammering filled the air. A large man, his back turned to Reud, was working on one of the houses. To his side lay a broken window shutter. Reud headed towards him as the man tore a rotted board from the shutter and replaced it with a pristine one.

Stopping beside the carpenter, Reud cleared his throat. “Excuse me, my good man.”

The man entirely ignored him, continuing to hammer away. Now that Reud was closer, the man’s face was more visible. A bushy beard covered his chin, and thick eyebrows hid his eyes. His skin looked worn, and his hands were covered in calluses, the sure sign of someone who spent a lot of time working beneath the sun.

Reud rocked back on his heels, clasping his hands behind his back. If he had anything, it was patience. He was more than willing to wait this man out.

It only took a few minutes for the man to finish repairing the shutter. Straightening, he hefted it onto his shoulder, then up to mount it into the hinge brackets attached to the wall. He gave it a few test swings before slamming it shut. Stroking his beard, he finally turned to Reud.

“You’re a patient one, I’ll give ‘ye that.” The man said, his voice deep and rough, looking from Reud to Bo’s skeletal figure. “So you’re the slayer of Telac.”

“My name is Reud, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

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“Grym, carpenter at your service. How can I help, my lord?”

“I was hoping to find some adventurer work, do you have any idea where around here I could do that?”

Grym scratched his beard. “Adventurer work? It’s been over a year since the last time one of you sorts came around here. You’d be wanting to speak to the mayor, over there.” He pointed to a large house on the opposite side of the square. “I’d advise you to be careful, though, round here there isn’t much love for mages.”

“Why is that?”

“The Seekers come through here a lot, the last time was only a couple months ago. Sometimes they just snoop about, ask some questions about where people came from, who their parents were, that sorta thing. Other times they do some test on the kids, then snatch one away. Last time it was the young twins Marla and Vorlo. They take a kid every couple of years, claiming they awakened to magic.”

Grym’s meaty hand clenched into a fist. “I know you ain’t a Seeker, my lord. You ain’t got the self-righteous look, if you’ll pardon me saying. But there are others who won’t make the distinction. All they’ll see is another child snatcher, here to seek out more victims.”

Reud nodded slowly.

Grym continued. “I’m sure people will warm to ye’ soon enough, if you start ridding us of some of the beasts. Just wanted to warn you before you go pesterin’ others around Littlestream.”

“Thank you, Grym. I’ll keep that in mind.” Reud said.

Grym grunted in response, then turned to pick up his tools. “I need to get back to my workshop. Welcome to the village, my lord.” With that, he strode off.

Reud watched him go, turning what the man said over in his mind. Children taken by the Seekers? That must mean they showed signs of an affinity. An affinity was rare, less than one in a few thousand people were born with it, though it was much more likely in a child born to a mage bloodline. Some of the noble lines, tracing their lineages back through dozens of generations of mages, had one in four of their young scions born with an affinity.

Out here, however, in the middle of nowhere, with no strong historic ties? For a single child to be born once a decade with an affinity would be a miracle enough. For enough to be born that the Seekers could take one every couple of years, and even two in a single year? That suggested something more.

Extremely curious.

Reud mulled the problem over in his head as he walked to the Mayor’s house. Just as he reached the door it opened, and a man ducked out, tugging a floppy hat into place.

“Good morning, Mayor Graham.” Reud greeted him. Graham span around in surprise to take Reud in. The man looked exhausted, great bags under his eyes speaking to a sleepless night.

“Good morning, my lord…” Graham paused, grimacing. “Reus?” He eventually said.

“Reud.”

“My apologies, my lord, sleep didn’t come for me last night.” Graham smiled weakly. “I hope your stay was more restful.”

“Adequately so, thank you. I actually came to inquire into whether you had any adventurer work available.”

Graham looked surprised. “Adventurer work? That is… unexpected.”

Reud frowned. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no, of course not.” Graham hurriedly responded. “It’s just that we haven’t had anyone looking to do any such work come since last spring. We’ve been needing to request Aldsville for the aid of their so-called ‘Beast Slaying Band’ to help us. However, the cost keeps increasing, and they keep adding more requirements. The latest of which was a marriage between my daughter and the son of their mayor.”

Graham trailed off for a moment.

“What I mean to say is, I would be happy to give you some adventurer work. However, I’m afraid we can’t pay that much. It has not been a profitable year.”

Reud waved a hand. “That’s understandable, and I’m sure we can come to some sort of non-monetary arrangement to cover the shortfall.”

Graham narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by non-monetary? I’ll say it right now, I will not allow my daughter to be included in any way again.”

“I wouldn’t think of it. No, what I want is information.”

“Information? Oh, of course, information.” Graham looked relieved. “In that case, I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”

Reud stuck out his hand. Graham looked at it in surprise.

“Do you not want to hear what the request is before you agree to it?”

Reud shrugged. “No matter what it is, I have complete confidence in my abilities to complete it.”

After a moment, Graham grasped his hand in return. “I can respect that. In that case, for five crowns, I would like you to slay a chimera that has been raiding our livestock. The chimera has slaughtered numerous oxen, destroyed part of a barn, large stretches of fences and crops, and injured a farmer. I fear it’s getting bolder and that it’s only a matter of time before some deaths occur.”

“Do you have any idea what the chimera looks like?”

“The man who was attacked, Darren, has been delirious since he was found, raving about great horses and spiralling horns. I’m afraid our healer believes his wounds have festered, and his mind will take some time to return.”

“Has there been no other sightings?”

“The chimera only strikes at night, when everyone is within the village.”

Reud frowned. “So how did the farmer get injured?”

“The chimera seems to have a particular taste for Darren’s oxen. He hid out in his barn a few days back to try to spot it. A foolish plan, I know. If he had informed me beforehand, I would have clapped some sense into him.” Graham let out a long sigh. “It would be a great weight off my mind to have this problem dealt with, my lord. The problem with Telac is hard enough.”

“I’m not fully up to date with the politics; what is likely to be the fallout from that?”

“It’s not good, my lord. Telac has had the rights to tax this province for nearly a decade. He was a cruel man, but he had the law on his side. Duke Hosta does not take kindly to any sign of insubordination. Especially from commonfolk. The news will eventually trickle back to him, within a few months at most.”

Graham paused briefly to rub his forehead.

“Who knows what he’ll do once he knows? He may send a subjugation force here to put us in our place. He will likely retaliate against your family, too. Speaking of family, my lord, what family do you come from? I may be able to warn them.”

“Ashm-” Reud stopped himself before blurting out the name. The old pain ached in his chest when he remembered the fate of all those who had once shared his name. Brutally slaughtered by the butchers from Lightire, stamping out any chance of Rudase rallying under the banner of a scion from a ruling house. No, it was best not to share his true name. At best this man would find nothing when he looked for them, at worst it would gain the attention of anyone in Lightire who knew their history.

“We are estranged, so do not concern yourself with them.” Reud finally responded. “Be assured I will take full responsibility if the Duke’s men come asking.”

“I can’t let you do that!” Graham protested. “I owe you far too much, protecting my daughter as you did. No other noble I have met in my fifty-six years of life would have done something like that. I will always be in your debt.”

Reud bowed his head in response. “You should thank my wife, not me.”

“I thank you both. So I cannot let you take the fall for Telac. Dealing with him should have been my duty as a father…” He trailed off.

Reud placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “You cannot blame yourself. The law failed you, letting the strong subjugate the weak. There was nothing you could have done without simply being killed. This way, you are still alive to support your daughter.”

Graham smiled at Reud. “Thank you, my lord, for your kind words.”

Reud continued. “I will also hear no more about taking responsibility. If the Duke comes, I will handle it.”

Graham bowed his head. “Of course, my lord.”

“Now, point me towards where this chimera was last seen. I’m fascinated to find out what sort of creature it once was.”