The sun was a low, orange orb in the sky, casting long shadows across the dusty streets of Silt when Ed and Ren stepped outside. According to the innkeeper, the convoys came through early in the morning as they made their way up north. Ed followed quietly behind Ren, who had insisted she take the lead.

They found a spot near the town’s entrance, a boarded-up shop that had seen better days. A crack in the wall allowed a perfect vantage point of the main gates, while mostly obscuring them from anyone not directly looking into the building.

Ed wore dark clothes to meld into the shadows, just in case. Ren wore her customary black leather armor.

True to the innkeeper’s word, the convoys came into view on the horizon not long after Ed and Ren got settled. As they approached the town, the massive cloud of dust kicked up by countless wagon wheels grew and grew. Eventually, Ed could make out wagons of all different sizes, some massive.

It was a ragtag assembly of wagons and carriages, hobbling along the main road into Silt. The gates opened, allowing dozens of wagons through. The relatively small town was completely dominated by this procession. Ed noticed some children poking their heads out of windows across the street, watching the convoys in awe.

He nudged Ren, pointing to the young onlookers.

“Looks like the kids are interested in the convoys,” Ed whispered.

Ren nodded. “Wouldn’t be hard for some scumbag to promise them a ride. And then poof, a kid is missing.”

Ed grated his teeth at the thought. Taking advantage of the innocence and curiosity of children disgusted him. Ren’s words from earlier that morning hung heavy in his mind.

The power of a god in our hands.

Ed was still grasping the weight of that responsibility.

“Seventh Spring mercenaries, any idea what we should be looking for?” Ren asked.

“Well, southerners east of the Serpentine tend to have tattoos of the sun. I learned that from a man my father was friends with,” Ed said.

Ren looked at the men passing by them, working the convoys.

“Am I supposed to strip them all naked? They’re all fully clothed. How are we supposed to see their tattoos?” Ren quipped.

“If you’d let me finish… they usually get the tattoos on their foreheads. It’s not common, head tattoos are really painful,” Ed replied.

“And really stupid, but whatever. I’ll keep an eye out for some idiot with a sun stamped on his head,” Ren muttered.

Ed was growing irritated. “Just because something is different doesn’t mean it’s stupid,” he said.

Ren shushed him, which grated on him further.

“Ren, seriously. You’re going to get us into trouble someday if –”

Ren suddenly pointed at a group of men carrying a massive, covered wagon.

“Stupid tattoos, look!”

She was right. There were two men, dressed in surprisingly clean linens with jewelry that sparkled in the soft morning sunlight. They each had fresh haircuts, emphasizing a styled red sun tattooed on their foreheads.

The red sun was a symbol of the Seventh Spring oasis. Everything Ed knew about the place, which admittedly wasn’t much, led him to believe these were the men they were told about.

The clothes, jewelry, and tattoos painted a clear picture.

“Those are our guys,” Ed whispered, suddenly nervous. “What do we do?”

“Nothing,” Ren said. “We watch them for now.”

The convoy stopped in Silt, leaving the wagons behind with guards as the workers split out into the various shops, bars, and restaurants in Silt. Some of the rougher-looking men went to the bars, while others went into shops and bought all sorts of items. Ed saw a man come out with a toy animal, proudly telling another man it was for his daughter.

A few men at the bar got into a scuffle, causing a loud commotion so early in the morning.

Ed and Ren kept a close eye on the convoys from the shadows, as stealthy as they could be.

Some of the guards left their posts by the wagons to inspect the brawl at the bar. Ed watched a single guard eye the surrounding area nervously before waving on a few more men. A thin man climbed into a covered wagon, tossing down different materials Ed couldn’t recognize.

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“Well, we found the guards skimming from the wagons,” Ren said nonchalantly.

“Should we do anything about it?” Ed asked.

“I couldn’t give a shit if people are stealing from the enclave, and neither should you.”

Ed didn’t respond, taken aback at the sudden aggression. Ren was in a particularly unpleasant mood today, which was saying a lot.

The two sat in silence for a few hours as the sun steadily climbed into the sky. Ed yawned, growing tired of waiting. The convoy workers came and went from various businesses and attractions around Silt. This was all a bigger deal than Ed had expected. But it made sense, these convoys probably provided a good amount of business for the local shops.

Ed knew little of the enclave, but Silt seemed to fit seamlessly into the machinations of the bigger picture. A whole world he had never known of, that had been chugging on for decades. Silt was rough, but Ed appreciated the chance to learn about a new culture.

Finally, after what felt like forever, things started moving again. The workers must have an allotted amount of time for recreation because the guards started yelling for them all at once. Minutes later, the convoys were back on the move.

Ed and Ren traveled through town, keeping to side streets as casually as possible. They kept their eyes vigilantly focused on the meandering convoy.

“Look,” Ren said as she pointed to a young boy playing near an old fountain at the edge of town.

The boy was young, no older than ten, and wore tattered and dirty clothes. A testament to the rough life for commoners in Silt, Ed surmised. He was engrossed in some game of his own making, hopping from one stone to another circling the fountain.

His innocence was a stark contrast to the grim situation surrounding him.

Ed watched the boy, a sense of unease growing in his stomach. The convoy was slowly progressing through town, and Ed realized it would pass right by the fountain.

Right by a single child, seemingly entirely alone and unsupervised.

“Keen an eye on her,” Ren murmured, watching the boy with a concerned expression.

As the convoy approached the gate, and subsequently the fountain, the mood of the town seemed to change subtly. The laughter and shouting from the men working the caravan quieted, the energy shifted to something darker, and Ed’s attention felt sharpened.

And then the convoy exited through the gate, kicking up dust as the cacophony of sounds faded into the distance. The young boy still played by the fountain, utterly oblivious.

Ren sighed. “Now what? That was our only lead.”

Ed considered his response, but his attention was drawn to something in the distance. A single wagon slowly backed up through the gate, reentering the town. He watched as the two men with red sun tattoos detached from the wagon.

”Get down,” Ed urged Ren, concerned they would be spotted.

The men glanced about as if scouting out the area for any threats. They had the energy of predators; Ed could somehow sense it. The men exchanged a look, a silent communication that sent a chill down Ed’s spine. They began to casually make their way towards the fountain.

The boy continued his play, not concerned about the strange men approaching him.

Ed, unable to watch this play out, stood up to confront the men. He was slammed back down to the ground on his ass by Ren.

”What are you doing?” he hissed at her before she covered his mouth with her hand.

“Are we here to save one child or all of them?”

Ed looked at her, angry and confused. Realization set in as what Ren proposed became clear.

“You want to let them kidnap that poor boy?” Ed asked, mouth agape.

Ren gave him a serious stare before turning back to watch the mercenaries. Ed did the same.

As the mercenaries drew closer, they moved with a purpose, their approach calculated and menacing. Finally, the boy noticed them, his smile fading away. But it was too late. Before he could react, one of the men scooped him up and clamped a hand over his mouth.

Ed watched the boy struggle, cries stifled and unheard. The other man quickly glanced around, ensuring their act had gone unnoticed.

It hadn’t.

Ed felt sick. Every single instinct told him to go save this child now. Kill the men, rip them apart with his skeletons.

Suddenly, he found himself summoning his skeletons as if by instinct. He didn’t even flinch at the sanity cost this time.

Fuck Ren and her plan, he thought. This was absolute madness.

What would Lila think, knowing Ed had watched two lowlife scum kidnap an innocent child?

“What are you doing?” Ren snapped at him. She grabbed his shoulders, pulling him backward and restraining him.

“We need to follow the lead,” Ren urged. Ed sensed doubt in her voice. Maybe he just wanted to hear it, but that was enough.

He commanded his skeletons to attack. Still wielding a dagger and club, the twin skeletons flashed into the open courtyard suddenly. Ed fought Ren off as she realized her attempts to restrain him were futile.

Ed emerged from the shadows.

“LET HIM GO!” Ed shouted.

The mercenaries turned back in shock, realizing they had been caught. One quickly pulled a knife from his belt.

Ed watched as they realized two skeletons were closing in on them rapidly. Panic and confusion painted their faces as they stumbled backward.

“LET HIM GO!” Ed shouted again, even louder.

The thralls collided with the first mercenary, plunging their weapons into his chest as they tackled him to the ground. The man’s knife was no match for the unbound might of Ed’s thralls. Within moments, Ed received a notification from the System, but he pushed it away.

The remaining mercenary shouted in fear as he watched his friend die. He held the boy like a human shield as he slowly backed away from the skeletons.

Ed approached him until he was less than twenty feet away.

“Let him go,” Ed said just loud enough for the mercenary to hear.

The man was shaking, spittle flying from his mouth as he whimpered. His eyes suddenly looked up, far behind Ed. A look of dread washed over his face as he watched Ren approach, wielding a glinting silver scythe.

“Release the kid, now,” she said.

The man shoved the boy forward, causing him to shout as he tumbled to the ground. The mercenary took off in a dead sprint across the courtyard as he tried to escape.

Ren slashed her scythe in a quick motion. A sickle of energy, flickering like a grey flame, emerged from the blade, cutting across the courtyard like a slingshot.

It caught the man in the back, slicing and burning his skin upon impact. He fell to the ground, motionless, as Ed received another dull ping from the System in the back of his mind.

Ren dismissed her scythe and hurried forward to comfort the crying child.

Ed stood in a daze, overwhelmed by the emotional toll of the last few minutes. It was then he realized they had drawn an audience. Dozens of people watched from windows and nearby alleyways, in varied states of shock and confusion.

Juna’s words echoed in Ed’s mind.

Death-bringers!