“Why do you think you found Garthu Vore?” Terrin asked while Snow opened the book to the page she’d found at the library.

“Look at this spot, Terrin. In every map, no matter what time period, this spot and everything around it stays barren, despite the development of trade along the border. What really convinced me, though, were the few villages that appeared, only to disappear on the next map. They were always within the void.”

She shoved the book into Terrin’s arms and pointed out a few small towns that historically fell within “the void”. As he flipped through the stolen collection, Terrin had to admit it was a good theory.

“How will we get there, though? That’s pretty far, and Ramer wouldn’t…” Terrin fell silent as they approached his home. The door was hanging from one hinge, and they could hear Ramer’s voice down the path. Terrin immediately took off toward the house, but she grabbed his hand and put a finger to her lips.

“If you charge in there, you will get yourself caught,” she whispered. “We are too small to be able to fight anyone head on, but if we sneak up on them, we might be able to help Ramer.”

Terrin bit his lip but nodded to acknowledge she was right. They both cautiously approached the open door and were soon able to discern what the adults within were discussing.

“Stop playing games, old man! I know you have the child here,” an unfamiliar voice growled.

“There aren’t any children here,” Ramer replied coolly. Terrin flinched as the sound of flesh hitting flesh reached them, followed by a grunt of suffering.

“Where are they? Surely you must know where your son is. If you don’t tell me, I’ll find them myself and kill the boy as well to make up for the time you’ve wasted.”

Terrin and Snow had managed to sneak close enough to the lopsided door to see into the kitchen. Terrin saw the stranger perched on the corner of the table, clad in all black. He wore a mask and a long obsidian beard to match his dark eyes, which were sparkling with malice as he pressed a knife against Ramer’s throat. A bruise was developing around Ramer’s right eye, but that wasn’t stopping him from glaring venomously back at the man.

“Don’t you dare touch a hair on his head! You have no idea what I’ve sacrificed to protect that child, and I’ll hunt you to the ends of the age if you hurt him,” Ramer spat at the thug.

Terrin felt a warmth spread through him at his father’s words, but it was quickly dashed when the man drew back his dagger.

“Snow!” Terrin hissed, but he turned to see the girl had disappeared.

“You’re wasting my time, old man,” the goon growled as he brought the dagger down.

Terrin’s mouth opened to scream, but the sound caught in his throat when a pot came flying across the kitchen and slammed into the man’s arm. The dagger flew out of his hand, and he fell off the edge of the table.

“You came here for me, so leave them alone!” Snow screamed as she grabbed another pan and charged him.

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The bearded trespasser propped himself up and oriented himself just as Snow swung at him again. He caught her arm and squeezed her thin wrist, forcing her to drop the pan. Ramer immediately stood and advanced on the stranger, but he grabbed his dagger from the ground and pressed it to Snow’s neck.

“Looks like I found my prize. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must report back to my employer,” he said crudely as he backed toward the door.

Terrin snapped out of his petrified terror and stuck his foot out just as the man crossed the threshold. He stumbled backwards when Terrin’s leg connected with his ankle, but his weight was enough to throw the slim boy off balance, too. The man regained his footing, and Snow took the opportunity to sink her teeth into his arm. A painful grunt escaped his throat, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, he threw her under his arm as casually as one would heft a bag of apples and reached for Terrin with his newly freed hand.

“I said don’t touch him!” Ramer yelled as he barreled out the door with a knife from the kitchen rack.

The man threw the two children, and they slammed against the cottage wall as the he prepared to fight off Ramer. Terrin gulped in a lungful of air to replace the wind that had been knocked out of him. He tried to pry himself away from Snow’s limbs, which had become dead weight.

“Snow, are you alright?” he asked with concern as the girl slumped onto the grass beside him, her head lulling to the side lifelessly. Before he could check if she was still breathing, a cry of anguish drew his attention. He turned back to the adults’ skirmish in horror. Ramer, who was straddling his attacker with a bloodied knife, had a dagger sticking out of his chest. Beads of sweat pooled on his brow as he stared at the hilt in disbelief.

“No!” Terrin screeched as Ramer’s labored gasps ceased, and his body went limp.

His murderer roughly rolled Terrin’s father off him and sat up, although he cringed and cradled his stomach as soon as he did.

“You filthy peasants have stood in Lady Nitiri’s way for far too long, and now you will all share the girl’s fate,” he wheezed as he forced himself to stand.

Even though daylight was quickly fading, Terrin could still make out the stain spreading across the man’s black shirt. Crimson dripped from his hand as he pressed it into the wound. Terrin cradled Snow’s body defensively. His eyes were glued to Ramer, whose body was eerily still.

“Stomach wounds are almost always fatal unless treated immediately with a combination of hot water, elder vine, grillin sap, hithe, and witlig petal to help seal and clean the wound before bandaging,” he recited robotically, just as Ramer taught him. He clung to Snow tightly, his eyes fixed on his father’s corpse.

This can’t be happening, he thought as tears pooled in his eyes.

“I’ll keep that in mind after I kill you,” the man grunted as he reached out to grab Snow with his free hand.

Terrin realized that he had to do something, or he would have to watch his friend die, too

“Keep away from her!” he shouted, kicking the man in the stomach as hard as he could. The man cried out in agony and fell to his knees. Terrin heard Snow whimper as he scooted away from the assassin, who looked pale and clammy. His wound was deep, and Terrin could tell he was losing too much blood. The man tried to stand again, but he stumbled and fell back to his knees, panting hard. Terrin kept dragging himself and Snow away until he backed into the leg of the kitchen table. She was regaining consciousness in his arms as he stared down the suffering masked man.

“Terrin...what happened?” she asked hoarsely as she tried to pull away from his iron grasp.

Terrin pulled her into his desperate embrace as hysterics consumed him.

“He’s dead. Ramer’s dead…” he wheezed through sobs.

His entire body shook. He watched the assassin slump against the doorframe and struggle to breathe. Snow let out a choked cry of shock and clutched the loose fabric of his shirt as her tears dripped onto his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, and he clung to her like his life depended on it.

Looking back, Terrin never could figure out how long they held each other as the man’s blood pooled across the ground, his dying gasps and curses filling their ears. All he knew was, when he woke up the next morning, the sunlight revealed it hadn’t been a nightmare.