As we wandered our meanderings took us further into the village and we caught the sounds of someone whistling, intricate and delicate but with some urgency. Glancing at each other we decided to look into it. The sound brought us further into the village, as we approached the sound was accompanied by a slapping sound that did not necessarily match the beat of the whistling. As it fell silently again I sidled along the side of our grocery store, run by Kueriken our orcish or perhaps part orcish grocer. I wasn't sure.

Saying she didn’t welcome questions regarding her heritage was a strong understatement. The lucky ones took a blow that threw them across the road before they landed. The unlucky ones had to find some way other than our grocer and general store to supply their general needs. Most of those moved away after suffering general store exile a while with no sign of it letting up. And it’s not like they got sympathy from anywhere else. No one wanted to tempt fate when it came to her.

I peeked around the corner and saw Kueriken sitting on her back stoop shaking her head. Some noise must’ve given me away as she stood fluidly drawing the large hammer off her back and facing the corner where I stood. “Step out where I can kill you!” her guttural tones called out. She sounded decidedly aggressive.

As I stepped out she jumped, her hand going up to grab the handle of her war hammer. I held my hands open where she can see them. “Hey Kuer. I didn’t mean to startle you. Just doing my rounds and heard whistling and slapping.” She sighed, tension draining from her as she replaced her hammer on her back sheath with precision born of practice. Shaking her head the light glistened off her small tusks as she said “I kinda hoped ye were tha beast.”

My brow furrowed as Mowris stepped out beside me. I said “You have to be joking Kuer! That thing was nearly twice your mass and moves like an attacking animal!” She sniffled “He’s got my Roxie! I’m sure of it!" She growled "I wanna pound on his head in retribution. Roxie has patrolled these streets with you all keeping us all safe and he took her.” She shook her head and sniffled again. “Well, Roxie does wander sometimes, right?” Keurikan caught her breath and nodded. “That’s true. Maybe she’ll be back soon.” She added gruffly. “Well… I better get back. If you see her, send her on home. If you see him…” Her eyes narrowed. “You call out and my hammer will show him that his size and speed is no match to my anger." I nodded. “You bet Kuer.” She nodded and disappeared back into her building.

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Mowris glanced at me. “I don’t know what is scarier. The beast or that creature.” I rolled my eyes. “Awe, Kuer is good people. She’s just worried about her pet.” Before I could finish my thought that she could indeed be scary Mowris cut in “Her pet? That creature? That lizard beast? It’s basically a crocodile shaped like a huge dog. Damn things eaten children I swear!” I shook my head and looked at her. “Really? Who?” She gave me a look like I was dumb or at least not paying attention “Zhevin. Glearis.” She shook her head like I was simple. I rolled my eyes. “Both of those went to relatives and eventually got trained.” I said. She shook her head and looked at me like I was crazy, ready to challenge me. “Seriously?” I retorted at her disbelief “I tracked them down. I have it in writing.”

Mowris shook her head again and gave me a sour look. “Her and her dog are dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed in the village. I mean, who carries a war hammer around all the time?” I shrugged, thinking the statement silly. “She’s no more dangerous than we are. I mean we all carry weapons. She is a strength of this town, like Ocran.” She gasped, causing me to stop in my tracks as she whipped around to face me “Why would you compare that creature to Ocran? She’s closer to animal than human!” She snapped, huffing, anger radiating off her. “Whatever! I should be getting back.” She said, turning on her heel. I watched her mane whip around as she turned and walked into the night. I shook my head and headed back toward the poor sector to finish out my patrol uneasy and wondering what had just happened.

Bed came late. It was hard to shake the feeling that the creature was just around the next corner, that it was lurking just beyond where I could see, that it was sneaking up to snatch some other poor unsuspecting soul nearby. Finally exhausted I headed to bed in the morning hoping the day would give them some protection from this predator.