The morning arrived with no change in the girl’s condition. I didn’t understand why she wasn’t waking up. There didn’t seem to be any injuries to her head. All I could do was change her bandages and wait. I didn’t want to leave her alone in the mansion, so decided to explore the cellar some more.

I wanted to double check that there weren’t any egg sacks to hatch and surprise me later and I also wanted to see if there was anything useful. I had my eye on the wine for one thing. Wine would be a nice change of pace from only water.

The survey of the cellar didn’t turn up much. There was nothing that looked like egg sacs from the spiders and most of the shelves were bare. I did find a few more jars of preserved food and grabbed a few bottles of the wine. I still jammed a chair up against the cellar door to be on the safe side and for my peace of mind. I really wished I could take a flame thrower to the spider’s lair but I would have to restrain myself. I set the wine bottles and preserved food on the dinner table for now. I wasn’t much of a wine drinker but was curious to see what this world’s wine tasted like.

Shadow interrupted me as I was about to open one of the bottles by meowing loudly from the second floor. “What is it Shadow? You want some wine too?” I asked, chuckling. She just kept meowing so I went up the rickety stairs to see what she wanted. I followed her into the bedroom where my guest was sitting up in bed.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re finally awake.” I said as Shadow curled up at the foot of the bed. The girl looked around the room, seemingly confused. “You were in the street yelling and then collapsed so I carried you inside and patched you up. My name is Matt by the way, and this is Shadow.” I continued, pointing at the lazy cat. “What is your name?”

I waited, trying to seem nonthreatening but it took a while for her to respond. When she did it was in a language that I didn’t recognize. She must have seen the confusion on my face. “I..no..speak…old empire…good. You help?” She finally stated, looking nervous. I swore to myself, trying not to let my emotions show. It would be my luck that the language that was implanted into my head would be out of date. From the history books in the study, I thought she must be referring to the empire that came before the kingdom that the port city belonged to. So, the kingdom must have kept using the language from the empire and now people referred to the language as old empire. “Yes, I helped. I’m Matt and this is Shadow.” I said, pointing to myself and then Shadow. The girl repeated our names and I nodded in encouragement. “Linterquezol” she said pointing to herself. “Wow, that is a mouthful.” I thought to myself.

“How about I call you Lin? You Lin?” I asked pointing to the girl. She smiled and nodded in agreement. “Where….brother?” the girl asked, looking around again. “I’m sorry, your brother didn’t make it.” I replied, frowning. I wasn’t good at this sort of thing. She just kept staring at me, not seeming to understand. I figured she would want to see him regardless so I offered her my hand so she could get out of bed. Lin grabbed on and tried standing up but her injured leg gave out. I caught her before she fell down and then just picked her up in a princess carry instead.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Lin was blushing but didn’t struggle as I carried her downstairs. Shadow stayed curled up in the bedroom. Her brother was still wrapped up in a blanket but I had moved him from the dining room table to a couch in my loot room. Lin cried out and started shedding tears as she saw the covered body. I gently set her down on the couch next to her brother. She uncovered his face and then hugged him, still crying. I decided to give Lin some space and went to get her some food and water.

I returned maybe 15 minutes later and noticed she had calmed down some. I placed the food which consisted of smoked fish and fruit and a glass of water on the table and urged her to eat something. She didn’t need much coercing and quickly finished it off. While Lin was eating, I couldn’t help but notice that her teeth were sharper and longer than a normal humans and her irises also looked different and more wolf like. When she was done, I decided to pose the question I had been wondering about. “Do you want me to bury the body?” I asked, pointing at her brother and then pretending to dig with an imaginary shovel.

She seemed to understand and nodded. I nodded in return and went outside to get the shovel. I had buried the dead animals in the front yard so decided to bury Lin’s brother in the back by the overgrown garden. With my new strength, it didn’t take me very long before I had an adequate hole dug. I returned inside and carried Lin to the freshly dug grave. I then went back for her brother and carefully placed him in the hole. Lin said some things in her own language before gesturing to me to fill it in. She cried some more as I covered the body in dirt.

I didn’t know what to say so just sat down next to her for a while until she seemed to be ready to go back inside. I carried her back to her room as she was looking tired and covered her up. “Thank….you. You…see….others?” she asked, grasping my shirt as I was about to leave. This stopped me cold. “Others, what others?” I asked, turning back to her. “Rest…of…party.” She replied. “Um, no. I will be on the lookout for them though. You get some rest now.” I said, shaking my head and gently taking her hand and placing it back under the covers before tucking her in again. She was soon asleep and now I had more to worry about.

With the state Lin and her brother were in I didn’t hold out much hope for her other party members but I still didn’t know how many of them there were, so it was possible some had survived. I had no idea where they might be though, so it was best to get more information when Lin woke up again before searching blindly for them.

I left Shadow and Lin sleeping in the bedroom and decided to get ready for a rescue mission. I would at least be ready to go when I got the information I needed. I grabbed a bag and started packing it with supplies I might need. Those included spare food, bandages, and water. I also made sure my weapons and armor were good to go. I would have to leave Lin behind, but she should be safe in the mansion. I wasn’t sure if Shadow would go with me or not. She always did whatever she felt like and seemed to be fond of our new housemate. It was the afternoon already, so I didn’t expect to go anywhere today as I didn’t want to be caught out after dark. I always heard more howls and roars at night.