“As wardens, we have all the responsibility to investigate this!” Shadow almost shouted.

Together with Fang, Hawk and Star, they were sitting in the same tavern where they had their lunch yesterday. The time was almost the same either: just before midday. By contrast, the tavern was utterly deserted today, with only four wardens dining at the main table.

“I’m not arguing with you, Arrow,” Fang started apologetically, “but rangers are more experienced in tracking. So let them do the job of hunting the moon wolf.”

“You are right. Still, I don’t want to lose time. If it’s not a single wolf but a pack wandering nearby, we must find it and scare it off before more victims follow.”

“I agree,” Hawk supported her. “It would be wrong to leave it without attention. The creature sneaked right into the middle of the village. It was either mad, or I don’t know.… even moon wolves, these vile beasts, know what fear is and are usually way more cautious. We definitely can’t ignore this.”

“Thanks,” Shadow looked at him with gratitude. “The moon wolf acted very strangely indeed. It attacked me so furiously that, at some point, I thought that it came specifically to kill me.”

“How could this be?”

”I don’t know, folks… and this is not the only thing that troubles me. I’m sure it wasn’t a wolf that killed the poor widow. Moon wolves slice the body almost in half to take the heart. Even if they fail to kill, they usually leave slashing wounds, not piercing ones. And she… was stabbed under her ribs, maybe, with a knife or a sword.”

A strange thought wandering in the background of Shadow’s mind bubbled up, but she mercilessly drove it away.

No. That couldn’t happen.

“So, you say it was a murder?”

“Yes! I examined her body well, and I’m sure about that.”

“But do we need to mess with it?” Fang asked with desperation in his voice. ”You know the highlanders better than we do: if one of the locals killed her, they would prefer to judge him on their own and even hide the culprit to avoid trouble with us. We came here for the Grinderhammer, and the more we shake this hornet nest, the less likely we can lure him into our service.”

“Who cares about that idiot anymore?” Shadow exploded. “A murder happened right before our eyes! Would you like me to ignore it?”

In the following silence, the dead atmosphere of the tavern became even more evident. The owner of the place was hiding in the kitchen, and only his son showed up briefly after Shadow shouted loud, asking for more fahwa. The boy quickly disappeared, with his face bearing deep shades of fear.

Shadow was trying to be strong, but arguing with her friends wasn’t, of course, the best way to show her strength. Having slept for just a few hours today, she had little energy or appetite and still felt like she was in a prolonged nightmare.

Whom am I trying to fool? I am not a full-fledged warrior yet, nor an experienced warden. Fang is right, and I shall better give up and return to Windwarden, thought Shadow, sipping her fahwa.

“Your wound started bleeding, Arrow,” suddenly said Star. “Let me…” she took a piece of cloth and quickly stretched to Shadow’s face to wipe a small track of blood that appeared on her cheek.

“It’s just a scratch. I’ll take care of it,” Shadow grasped the cloth and pressed it to the skin. Thanks to hemtree paste, it already started to heal and was itching badly. Despite the medicine and a few stitches that Star put on the wound tonight, the thing was sure to stay forever. Luckily it was indeed only a scratch, not nearly as horrible as the scar Shadow saw on her face in the nightmare.

“Arrow, whatever you decide, we support you,” ensured her Star.

Fang nodded too, but silently. He looked resentful after Shadow shouted at him.

“Let’s stay in the village for a few more days to protect people in case moon wolves appear again. At the same time, we’ll search around to see if we can find their traces—this is the right thing to do now,” concluded Shadow more calmly after a pause and some thinking. “As for the Grinderhammer—I don’t care anymore. If he prefers to stay here, so be it.”

“And what about the widow?”

Shadow looked sideways.

“Fang is right, and finding the killer could be very difficult. We’ll see.”

“Let’s interrogate the monks,” suggested Hawk. “They are very suspicious. Do you remember the woman saying about the wolves dressed in black?”

“Yeah,” Shadow looked at the cloth to check if the bleeding had stopped, “she did say something like this, but the monks arrived yesterday almost together with us. How could they be involved? I also remember, before dying, she whispered something about the moon wolves again. She said, search the old gashga.”

“The old mines?”

“Yes.”

Friends exchanged looks. Fang scratched his head. He didn’t have much desire to argue again but couldn’t abstain from noting:

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“That’s weird. The Grinderhammers would tell us if they had problems with moon wolves prowling around their property.”

“Maybe they want to handle it alone, too?” suggested Hawk. “The vards are not much different from highlanders when protecting their secrets. Maybe that’s why they come along easily.”

Fang just shrugged, unconvinced.

“Regardless… I wouldn’t trust the words of that woman. She looked delirious.”

The blood had stopped. Shadow hid the cloth and looked at everyone.

“On the other hand,” she said, trying to speak calmly and without unnecessary facial gestures, ”her delirious words are the only lead we have. We’ll look around and check the mines also. But before that, I want to visit the punshur and hear what he says.”

Not only the tavern but the whole village today also looked dead, with very few people showing up except for the farmers doing their job and two black monks wandering from house to house and talking to people. Shadow and her companions came face to face with them right after exiting the tavern. One was Gerome, and the other was a tall man with a sharp bird-like face whose name Shadow didn’t remember.

“Honorable wardens,” Gerome bowed in one-third, seeing Shadow. “It’s a great pleasure to meet you again. Let the Five protect you on your way.”

“I’m glad to meet you too,” Shadow nodded.

Gerome’s friendly face could hardly betray any genuine emotions. However, the second man looked quite worried.

“This place is dangerous for strangers,” said Shadow. “I advise you to leave Surram Dahla for your safety and return to the Copper Road.”

“We appreciate your worries,” Gerome bent his back in half, “and thank you for your wise advice, but our humble fates are in the hands of the Five. In every conjunction is a purpose; every coincidence hides an intention. The Five predestined for us to meet here. How could we act against their will and leave?”

“Consider yourself warned.”

As Gerome straightened up, Shadow eyed him carefully, trying to see through his thoughts, but that was far beyond her abilities.

“We all should be careful, my dear,” Gerome’s voice became caring. “I heard what happened tonight, and it’s indeed unbelievable. The single wolf coming into the center of a human’s place that’s a rare occasion we have never heard of since the dark years. Did you manage to catch the beast?”

“No, it got away.”

”It must’ve been a sign of the Five then that we need to understand. I wish you to stay safe and follow the path the Five outlined for you. This place, my dear, is full of fear, and very few people dare to accept our help and knowledge. Please, if you need either, don’t hesitate to ask. We are here for anyone in need.”

“Thank you.”

Being eyed by Gerome in return while listening to his religious gibberish turned out to be an unpleasant experience. Shadow felt goosebumps rising over her spine as she recalled the day they first met at Phoenix Peak.

Did they only treat me for poisoning there, or did they allow themselves more while I was unconscious? Do I want to know? Maybe not… Maybe it is better if no one ever knows that part. Maybe these monks could simply disappear? Shadow shrugged, shocked by her thoughts, but a strangely foreign and sly voice in her head hadn’t finished yet: Maybe you can even take care of it yourself; this is a wild place, after all— suggested it.

That was too much. Scared of herself, Shadow nodded to the monks and walked away quickly, leaving them behind.

Headman’s house stood not far from the tavern, a bit uphill, looking at the farms below. It was a large and old but well-maintained building with a small yard in front of it, which was today full of people. The contrast was especially striking compared to the otherwise seemingly dead village. There were mostly adult men and just a few older women and boys of around twelve. They were propping the wall, sitting on the grass and talking loudly. A few men were armed with long daggers that could almost account for swords. When Shadow asked one of them what are they doing here, he replied they were preparing to hunt for wolves.

The headman also confirmed that.

“We can protect ourselves!“ he repeated a few times with pressure in his voice. “It was a stray wolf, and we chased it out. It won’t return! And if it does, we’ll take care. We know what to do with its kin!”

Shadow didn’t get anything useful from him. Despite facing the authority of wardens, the punshur was so determined to protect the status quo in his small world that he even dared to raise his voice. Ultimately, he advised Shadow to keep an eye on “suspicious foreigners who wander around.”

He’s not afraid of me at all—same as others thought Shadow when they left his house. After all, they must've seen me for what I am: just a scared girl.

Seeing the armed mob reminded Shadow of a memory from her past—a distinct feeling she experienced when visiting similar places around the Dancing Goose fort with her father. That was the feeling of dozen eyes staring at your back with fear and hidden hatred. Something that she almost forgot while she lived in the halls of Alder surrounded by her people.

The sun was still high. After leaving the punshur, the four friends rode their horses to the Grinderhammers.

“Just look at them—ready to kill and fight,” commented Hawk when they left the mob behind.

“Are you not ready for some rumble?” Star smirked.

“The numbers are not exactly in our favor. But I expect Fang to shoot at least a few of them before it gets to the swords.”

Fang, who rode last as he often did, opened his mouth with a sly expression as if he wanted to say some joke but halfway changed his mind and, after a pause, said:

“No more than two, I’m afraid. These streets are quite narrow, not good for the archer.”

Despite his serious tone, Hawk laughed.

“Guys, please,” Shadow frowned. They are scared, don’t you see? They are not going to attack us.”

“They won’t dare,” agreed Hawk, “the damn place is doomed in case so.”

“And why would they need to?” took up Fang. ”They have another, easy victim.”

“What do you mean?”

”I mean the black monks—the suspicious foreigners. They will blame everything on them: the murder and the wolf, and then hang the poor folks.”

“As if someone will let them do it,” Shadow’s voice didn’t sound as confident as she would like.

“They will wait until we leave, of course.”

The topic became too serious for jokes, and everyone fell silent.

The Sun Throne granted the Heart of the Ridge to the Crimson Alder for two main reasons: to defend the Copper Road from bandits and to protect the peace in the mountain lands. The last mostly meant stopping all local conflicts, which the Alder Clan successfully did a few decades before the appearance of magical creatures. Preventing highlanders from fighting each other wasn’t hard: the military strength of Crimson Alder was far superior compared to the unorganized bands of the so-called local kings or pashlabs in azraani, each of whom possessed just a few valleys and settlements like this. The peace didn’t come to everyone’s taste, though. Those who saw themselves as the rightful rulers in the mountains feared and loathed the Alder Clan.

From her early days, Shadow was taught to protect the land of the Alder and the Imperial laws—and that became her dream after her father was chosen as a clan’s leader and they moved to the Alder halls. Yet, strangely, after returning to the land where she was born, to these very lands she vowed to defend, Shadow didn’t feel so sure about what and who she must protect in the first place and from whom…