A chilling scream echoed across the town, sending a tremor up Carmen’s spine. She shoved the hastily constructed spear into Miguel’s hands, saying, “Stay in the back. Don’t try to save anyone.”

“I know, mom,” he said in an obvious attempt to appear courageous. Carmen could see his knuckles whiten as he gripped the spear haft far more tightly than normal. But just because he was frightened, that didn’t mean he wasn’t brave. If anything, the fact that he was ready to meet the challenge despite the fact that he was weak and afraid said the opposite.

If the situation weren’t so dire, Carmen would have reveled in the pride of having raised someone with that kind of backbone. But as it stood, she didn’t have the time to do so. Because in the day-and-a-half since she’d learned of their hosts’ true nature, another of her party of refugees had gone missing. She knew where Bruce had disappeared to, as well.

The monsters that lived in the town looked human, but they were, in fact, horrible and predatory creatures called sidhe. And they existed by sucking the life out of their human victims. Upon learning that, Carmen had attempted to leave the town – surreptitiously – but she’d found her way blocked at every turn. So, she’d gotten to work creating the bane weapons by using the enchantments Willa had given her.

Since then, she’d forged eight spearheads, attaching them to shafts, and a sword for Colt. For her own use, she intended to use a heavy blacksmithing hammer she’d created and engraved with the appropriate enchantments.

But now they were ready.

Of the people who’d been banished from Easton, only seven remained, including Miguel, Colt, and herself. However, she didn’t blame herself as much as she had when she thought everyone was simply going their own ways. So, in a way, finding out that they’d been magically manipulated by monsters was comforting.

Or it would have been if she could wipe the image of those creatures from her memories. Every few minutes, her mind would wander, and it would return. Those bat-like faces. The grotesque proboscises. The elongated limbs. It all coalesced into something horrifying that she hoped she could one day forget.

Still, it made the notion that they would soon be tasked with killing the monsters that much easier to swallow.

Awakening the others from their food-induced, borderline hypnotic state had been difficult, but Carmen had discovered that intense pain was enough to wake them up. So, she’d burned each and every one of them with a hot brand. Even though it had left them initially angry, it had done the trick. So, after that, it was a simple task of arming them.

Now, they stood in her forge, each one carrying a spear and looking ready to use those weapons. After all, they were survivors. They’d each one gone to great lengths during their trek through the wilderness. And so, they were ready to do what was necessary.

Even Miguel.

Especially him.

The young man had moved past his initial anger, and with his back straight and with his spear in his hands, he looked so much like his mother. They hadn’t shared blood. Biologically, Miguel wasn’t even related to Alyssa. But that didn’t matter. Miguel had idolized her, and even without trying, he channeled her essence.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t meet the same end, though Carmen knew that was out of her control. He was on the verge of adulthood. Certainly, in the old world, he’d have had a few years yet before he had to worry about that sort of thing. But in the apocalypse, getting an archetype was the mark of maturity.

And he wasn’t far away from that. A year, at most.

Carmen wasn’t certain what to think of that, but she knew it was neither the time nor the place to explore those sorts of feelings. So, she pushed them aside, praying that there would be a future where she’d have a chance to truly investigate the way she felt about her son growing up.

“Is everyone ready?” she asked, looking from one person to the next. They all nodded resolutely.

Colt said, “Yes, ma’am.”

He still didn’t look right without his hat. Carmen vowed to find him a new one as soon as they made it out of Eber.

Nodding, she said, “Let’s go, then.”

Resolutely, she led them outside. As horrible luck would have it, she hadn’t finished the weapons until after sunset, and given the mostly overcast night, the village outside was cast in deep shadows. Carmen knew better than to believe there was nothing hidden in the darkness.

In fact, the moment she stepped out of the smithy, she saw movement as something skittered across the street. There were no lights, though. No blank-faced villagers. Indeed, it looked like a ghost town. Yet, Carmen could sense – or possibly imagine – the dangers lurking nearby.

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She gestured for her people to come with her, and as she did, she used Augment Weapons. Each of the weapons she’d created bloomed with blistering fire, illuminating the area.

And the surrounding sidhe.

They hissed at the group, but Carmen wasn’t going to let them take the initiative. Instead, she rushed forward, swinging her hammer with all her Strength. It took the sidhe – who wore the blank face of an average-looking man – directly in the chest. The thing never even tried to avoid it, almost as if it didn’t fear such a blow.

So, when the hammer caved its sternum in, it briefly wore an expression of the purest shock. Then, it collapsed, the illusion it wore falling away before it hit the ground. Carmen bulled past him, swinging the hammer at the next closest sidhe. But it danced aside, avoiding the attack.

Colt lashed out with his new sword, its bane blade cutting through its neck like it was made of paper. No blood came from the resultant wound. Instead, thick, white pus bubbled up from the thing’s stump. Carmen kicked it in the chest, sending the de-illusioned creature flying into its fellows.

But even kicking its dead body felt like trying to move a brick wall. While she was capable of moving it, it was only just. And there had been no give beneath her foot. That hammered home the reality of their situation. If it weren’t for their bane weapons, that seemed to do far more damage than they otherwise would have, even her vaunted Strength would have been insufficient.

And that was saying nothing of the rest of her party, which, aside from Colt, was composed of low-level non-combat Scholars.

They did have those weapons, though. And as she pushed forward, leading the way with her enchanted hammer, the others attacked with their bane spears. They were barely Simple-Grade weapons, and yet, they sliced through the sidhe with ease. Before long, the monsters wised up to the danger and backed away.

Carmen didn’t let them regroup. Instead, she plowed ahead, swinging her hammer with ruthless efficiency. Her Crafter’s Endurance stood her in good stead, but her Strength served her purposes even better. Finally, Augment Weapons enhanced the already-deadly bane weapons, and even the slightest touch of the enchanted hammer was enough to send one of the sidhe reeling.

Until, at last, the gates came into view. According to Willa – who was curiously absent – the sidhe were tied to the village in some way. Because of that, they were vulnerable outside its walls. So, there was almost no chance they would pursue Carmen and her people into the wilderness.

However, there were two people standing before the gate.

Wendy and Wendell stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Every once in a while, their illusions would flicker, revealing their true appearances. And they were larger, with even longer limbs, than any of the other sidhe.

The challenge was clear.

If Carmen and the others expected to escape, they would have to do so by going through the pair of sidhe leaders. With the other sidhe pouring out of their houses to join the horde, Carmen knew there wasn’t time to strategize. Instead, she charged, hammer held high. And when she reached the creatures, she came to understand why Wendy and Wendell were in charge.

They moved so quickly that she couldn’t even track it, and before she could register what was happening, she found herself skidding across the ground at the end of a backhanded blow that had dislocated one of her shoulders. And given her Constitution, that was a testament to how much power the creatures held.

Fortunately, Colt was a much better combatant than she could ever be, and his loyal nature dictated that when Carmen had charged, so did he. As she picked herself up, he launched a Blade Storm at the pair, but to both of their surprise, the ability had almost no effect. Aside from a few small cuts that seeped white pus, the creatures were entirely unharmed.

But Colt refused to be dissuaded. However, where Carmen had engaged in a reckless charge, the one-handed swordsman took a measured approach. Wendell snapped out, his illusion flickering to reveal a grotesquely long arm. Yet, Colt had no issues sidestepping it. Then, he thrust.

Wendell’s eyes widened, and he shifted slightly. However, he was off-balance, so he was incapable of avoiding the stab that took him in the hip. He screamed – an unholy shriek that sounded like a thousand dying crows – and tried once again to strike Colt. The samurai didn’t move much, but it was just enough to elicit a narrow miss.

Yet, Wendell wasn’t alone.

Wendy blurred forward, solidifying her status as the town’s true alpha, and before Colt could react, she snapped out a blow that took him in the head. Despite being taken by surprise, the samurai rolled with the blow, and that was likely the only reason he managed to survive. Still, even getting clipped was enough to send him stumbling to the ground. The sidhe woman pounced.

That’s when two things happened.

First, Carmen returned to battle, swinging her hammer in a wide arc meant to cave in the woman’s head. But she hadn’t forgotten the wounded Wendell, who’d somehow superimposed himself between Carmen and Wendy. As a result, he took the blow mean to kill the other sidhe, adopting her fate as his own. Carmen’s hammer crashed through his upraised arms with enough force to crush his skull, sending a gelatinous white goop flying through the gate.

Yet, as satisfying as the kill was, it meant that Wendy had a free shot at the stunned Colt.

But Miguel had no intention of letting that happen. The boy – no, the young man – planted himself between the two, bracing the bane spear with his foot. Like a charging boar, Wendy couldn’t stop herself before being impaled on the weapon. She slid down to the shaft, pus dripping from her mouth as she grasped for Miguel.

A recovered Colt slashed, and the sidhe’s hands went flying. A moment later, she perished.

Seeing that, Carmen shouted, “Everyone through the gate!”

The rest of the group, who’d been holding the other sidhe off, slowly backed through the gate. The sidhe refused to pass through, which seemed to confirm Willa’s information that said the creatures were weakened outside of their territory.

Not that the refugees could spare the time to confirm that. Indeed, the only person that bothered looking back was Carmen, and she saw a smiling Willa standing behind the horde of sidhe, her arms crossed. She raised a hand to her brow and gave Carmen a salute.

The meaning was clear.

Willa hadn’t helped Carmen and the others out of the goodness of her heart – if the sidhe even had those organs. Instead, she was motivated by simple greed. She wanted power, and she saw a way to rid herself of her rivals. Or superiors. But as much as Carmen found the whole concept disgusting, she’d still benefited from it.

Shaking her head, Carmen turned and followed her people into the wilderness. As she passed the tree line, she wondered what else they would be forced to endure before they reached some semblance of safety.