They made their way to Lexi’s house at an uneven pace. Lexi hopped with one foot, using her spear for balance. While they made steady progress at first, this clearly exhausted her. She summoned a [Force Shield] to sit on, leaning on the spear to catch her breath.

“It’s somehow more than double the effort to walk with one foot. My [Endurance] is almost exhausted. I’ll have to look into getting a fake foot like Healer Rensto suggested.”

“You can have the gold coin back,” Renalia offered.

Lexi shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I have enough saved up. Let this be a lesson for you. Our profession is one of feast or famine. That one gold may seem like a lot, but you never know when you’ll bag the next bogling. So have enough set aside to ride out the empty days.”

She paused for emphasis. “And whatever you do, don’t gamble it away like my brother and many other hunters.”

“But this money can help–” Renalia stopped when Agdalena happened upon them.

Agdalena’s perpetually sour face took on a sneer when she spied Renalia. “Get out of our village, you murderer!” she shouted.

“Go away!” Renalia shouted back. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“She’s a child,” Lexi said. “She hasn’t done anything.”

Agdalena whipped her head toward Lexi and pointed at Renalia with a crooked finger. “It’s in her blood. They’re murderers, all of them. Look at what they did to Allain.”

“We don’t know if it was that Petravian soldier or some bogling that killed Allain. Either way, it definitely was not Renalia’s family.”

“Some bogling?” Agdalena asked in disbelief. “Allain has spent his whole life hunting boglings. Open your eyes. This is what they do.”

Agdalena squinted at Lexi, lips curling in disdain. “Oh, I see. You a brown-skin lover? Is that why you never married? Waiting to do some sick mating ritual out in the bog yesterday?”

Lexi gritted her teeth and stood up. “Come on, Renalia. We don’t have to listen to this.”

At the same time, Renalia said, “You can’t talk to Lexi that way. She’s a Hunter! You’re-you’re nobody.”

Lexi resumed hopping, leveraging her spear to vault forward with each step. Renalia jogged to catch up, she and Agdalena glaring at each other in passing.

After traveling far enough from Agdalena, Lexi summoned her [Force Shield] again. Panting at the exertion, she slumped down on it,

“I’m sorry,” Renalia said. “It’s not good to be seen with me, especially after that guy came to find Papa.”

Stolen story; please report.

Lexi waved the apologies away. “Agdalena’s never been the same after the war took her husband and eldest son. It has nothing to do with you or your father.”

“But people know Papa was a soldier now.”

“True, but many folks here have a past that they’re trying to escape from. People don’t settle in Deathwater unless they have a good reason.”

“Did you know Papa was a soldier in the past?” Renalia asked.

“I assumed. Chief Cian interviews people who want to stay in the village. Since he approved, no one asked for details.” Lexi shrugged. “But I think everyone suspected.”

“So that’s why everyone hates us.”

“It’s not just that. Hate comes easy; it’s kindness that takes effort.”

Lexi sipped from her waterskin before she continued. “And however people treated your father in the past, his actions during the McGinnis Fire bought a lot of goodwill among the hunters. We leave our loved ones behind in the village every time we go out into the bog. That he saved many families last year is not something we will forget anytime soon.”

“Do you think we’ll get thrown out of the village like Leo McGinnis?”

“I don’t know. It’s up to Chief Cian to weigh the good your father does in the village versus the danger that might come looking for him. There will always be folks like Agdalena, but I’ll speak to how your father rescued me yesterday.”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Don’t be sorry, kid.” Lexi patted Renalia’s head. “I should thank you. My brother said I would have died if you had not come back for me.”

“No, it’s all my fault.” Renalia choked back the beginnings of a sob. “The monster sought me out. B-but you stood in its way, so it went after you.”

Lexi kneeled, placing herself at Renalia’s level. “Listen to me, Renalia. You didn’t do this, the lizard did.”

“But-but you lost your foot! That’s so unfair; you had nothing to do with it.” In a small voice, she added, “If anyone should be hurt, it should be me.” Tears sprung from her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. [Dull Emotions] beckoned, but she refrained from activating it, not wanting to present an emotionless mask to Lexi.

Lexi cupped Renalia’s face, her thumbs rubbing away the tears. “No, none of us deserves this. But as hunters, we are the shield that defends this village.”

“But you’re not a hunter anymore. You can’t even walk.” She took short gulps of air between sobs.

“Eh, I was never the most mobile hunter. As long as the boglings run at me, I still have my skills. I just need some practice at walking.”

Renalia couldn’t believe how calm Lexi seemed. “You should be angry at me.”

“It’s not your fault, kid. I don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t blame yourself, either. If I hadn’t been there, my brother might have died. And if none of us were there, it may have fought its way into the village. I don’t like becoming a cripple either, but I am glad I was there yesterday.”

Renalia murmured as Lexi hugged her, “You’re too nice.”

“So are you, kid. Remember our promise? I help you now, but in the future, you find some kid to pay the kindness forward.”

Renalia buried her face in Lexi’s shoulder, letting it take her tears away. She had been strong through her childhood, facing all hardships head-on. She wouldn’t change that, heading into adulthood.

Be strong, she thought. Like a rock.