Hammering the nail, I made sure it was centered before readying the next board. Lining it up, I slid the board into place and readied another nail upon it. I hammered the last board into place easily enough, and leaned back to make sure it was all well.

Stepping back, I nodded at the new fence. The dark red wood looked a little too colorful for just a common fence, but it was what Brandy had left for The Clothed Woman to use.

Running my hand along the top of the nearest wood post, I wondered where this wood came from. It was something found far east, not near here… yet had been cut here. The eastern regions cut their wooden panels much thinner than they did here. Thanks to their climate, and the way they built their buildings.

Cupping the top board of the fence, the one I had just nailed into place, I studied the thickness of it.

Yes. Cut here. That meant they had either been cut to order, or the raw lumber had been shipped here and processed here.

What had Brandy gotten herself into? I had thought she had agreed to not expand beyond the near borders yet.

“No matter,” I said as I stepped away from the fence. I spun the hammer in my hand around as I walked along the fence and looked for any gaps or mistakes.

There wasn’t, of course. Yet it kept me busy to look and check. I walked along the fence, circling the large patch of melons that I had fenced in.

The fence wouldn’t stop animals of course. It was only a basic fence with three levels of boards… but The Clothed Woman didn’t need to worry about animals. No base creatures would intrude in this area. Not even birds.

Yet sometimes one needed to make their home presentable, even if no one but the person who lived here ever saw it.

Plus it let me feel good for visiting. It let me pretend I actually did something productive.

Wasn’t much I could do for the one who lived here, after all. Especially since the stuff she actually wanted from me was… not feasible. Or well, not something I could or would willingly do.

A laugh filtered out of the house. Probably from one of the open windows. The weather was nice, and the world warm. And I knew that Renn had likely opened the windows because of the odd smell within the house.

Not that a little wind or draft could clear out that smell.

Renn’s laugh died down, as I tapped the hammer against my thigh.

“She’s another issue,” I said to myself as I finally reached the same spot in the fence where I had started. I had rounded the whole enclosure, and found no issues with it. I’d have made a small gate for her too, but I knew she’d only break it down. The Clothed Woman didn’t like doors or gates. It was a miracle she allowed one for her house’s front door… although I doubted it was ever really closed when she were alone.

No matter.

We could leave tomorrow now and I won’t feel too bad about it.

Some food. A new fence and I had cleaned up around the property a little. A tree had fallen to the north, and had begun rotting. I moved it far enough away that it’d not bother the other trees or give access to any kind of weird bugs. This region had a termite problem during the summer.

For the Clothed Woman that was enough. Or… well honestly, it was enough for me.

She didn’t care if I did these things, after all.

She didn’t care for anything anymore.

I sighed and hoped that Renn wouldn’t end up like her. So many did for one reason or another…

Maybe that was why I had been so upset that she had remembered the painting. A part of me was angry at myself, for not remembering it… but honestly that didn’t matter.

Renn remembered it. Which meant she’d notice such things. Which meant she’d get involved, more and more.

Her staying with me was risky… she was too smart for her own good.

“She’d break or get corrupted,” I whispered at myself. I needed to find a way to convince her to leave me. To pick someone, or somewhere else.

My biggest hope right now was Brandy.

She traveled. She went from town to town, somewhat like myself. She made deals and negotiated not just with our own people, but the humans. She was involved in politics, markets… She even dealt with the church on occasion.

Renn seemed to need something to focus on. She needed activity. And purpose.

Brandy could give her that. And Renn would be good at it. She’d make a wonderful merchant, and an even better Society member. Renn would not hesitate to travel between locations, picking up goods or dropping them off.

“Are you going to attack the fence?”

I blinked, and turned to see Renn. She was giving me a really odd smile, and her ears were straight up… as if alert and ready.

Glancing down, at what she had spoken about… I realized I had laid the hammer onto the fence in the way I would right before swinging it. I looked as if I was lining up a strike.

“Hm,” I lifted the hammer off the fence and looked around. The Clothed Woman wasn’t nearby.

“She’s praying,” Renn said gently.

Ah… yes. It was that time. About noon.

“Four times a day,” I said with a nod.

Renn nodded softly. “She stops anything she’s doing to go pray. It’s a little odd, but I guess that’s how she is,” she said.

Ah… they must have been doing something. Odds were they had been laughing together over something, and the Clothed Woman had actually stopped laughing entirely and turned to walk out, causing Renn to feel awkward.

“You feeling up for leaving tomorrow?” I asked her.

“Do I get to choose if we do or not?” she asked back.

“Well… I’d consider your opinion, at least,” I said honestly.

Renn smiled, and stepped closer. I noticed the odd way her tail twitched as she stepped up to the fence I had just made. She ran her hand along the middle fence board. Seemed that was the one most comfortable for her to touch, thanks to her height. I glanced at the spot I had rested the hammer on. The top board. It had been the most comfortable for me to touch… was I really that much taller than her? It didn’t seem like it.

Her ears really made her seem taller than she actually were.

“So uh… I want to apologize,” Renn then said.

“What’d you do this time?” I asked.

Renn’s fingers clenched onto the wooden board, and her ears flickered… yet she didn’t look at me. She found a nearby melon, a watermelon, more interesting all of a sudden. “Well, for yesterday,” she said.

What’d she do yesterday? I had caught a couple deer… she had helped me prepare their meat for drying… I asked about the painting, and then afterward I went to check on the small lake nearby. By the time I had gotten back Renn and the Clothed Woman had been in bed. Though that was undoubtedly because of the Clothed Woman. Renn never stayed up too late, but that had been early even for her.

“The painting, Vim,” Renn reminded me, speaking with a hushed tone.

“Ah? What’d you do wrong with that?” I asked.

“You had seemed upset…” she said.

“Oh…” I realized what happened. I had been bothered, yes… but not really because of her. It was upsetting that she remembered it, but I didn’t fault her for doing so. It just meant I needed to be careful with what I said and did around her. She wasn’t the first to have such superb memory. Rather I had been upset not because of her… but the circumstances themselves.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Did I misunderstand?” she asked, most likely noticing the truth on my face.

I nodded. “It seems so. I had… indeed been bothered, Renn. But not because of you. In all honesty I was surprised once again at your impeccable memory, but what had disturbed me wasn’t that you had remembered it but that I had. Or well, that I had not taken more notice of it,” I explained.

“Was that painting important?” she asked.

“Yes. Or well, not the painting itself but the purpose behind it. You said you could paint it from memory?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Maybe not as well, of course, but I could.”

“Would you do so for me? I’ll get the materials for you in Lumen,” I said.

“Sure!” she nodded quickly, and her eyes seemed to light up a little at the request. Maybe she liked to paint?

“Thanks,” I said, and meant it.

Renn giggled as she gave me a huge smile, and actually started to sway on her feet. She held onto the fence as she rocked back and forth… and seemed far too happy. Her tail was even swaying wildly.

The sight of her being so… happy, made me feel a little uncomfortable. I was glad she was happy, of course… but…

She wasn’t just happy she was getting to paint, was she?

Was it because she had thought I had been upset with her, and now was happy to know I hadn’t been? Or was it something else? Was she just happy that I had asked her a favor?

“You’re an odd one, Renn,” I said.

Her happy swaying slowed, but didn’t stop. “Says you?” she said with a happy tone.

“Hm… that’s true,” I nodded and stepped forward, to lean on the fence I had just made. It supported my weight easily.

Renn leaned forward too, to join me up against the fence… though once again our difference in height became a little more apparent. While I could rest on the top of the fence comfortably, she had to raise her arms a little to do so. It made her look uncomfortable.

“We haven’t been training lately, you know,” Renn then said.

“Hm… can’t do that here,” I said.

“Oh?” Renn’s happy smile died a little more. She glanced at the church, but of course nothing had changed. The Clothed Woman was still in there, praying. And would be for some time.

“She’d probably try to convert you if we did,” I said with a nod.

Renn looked back at me, blinked a few times, and then scoffed a laugh. “You said that so drearily!” she laughed at me.

“Drearily?” I asked.

She contained her laughter with happy little giggles and nodded. She leaned closer to me, bumping into my arm. “I wouldn’t be able to wear such clothing, so you don’t need to worry. Hiding my tail and ears are a pain enough as it is!” she whispered, a little loudly.

It was my turn to smile, and I found myself taking a somewhat deep breath… as if in relief. “I see,” was all I was able to say.

Renn happily nodded. “Plus I don’t mind praying, but four times a day? What if we were doing something interesting? I’d have to put a hold to it and go pray! That’d probably get annoying very fast,” she said.

“That’s true. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on the interesting stuff,” I said.

She nodded seriously, as if she could imagine all those supposed important things she could potentially miss out on.

“Plus then I’d not be able to stay with you, and that would be horrible,” Renn said.

Rubbing my thumb against the wooden fence, I stared at the woman who sighed and rested her head onto her folded arms. She suddenly looked tired… as if all that laughing and giggling had worn her out.

Studying her expression, I realized how serious she was being. She had been laughing earlier, making lighthearted jokes… but that comment just now had been genuine. From the heart. From her soul.

It made her seem beautiful.

And it made me want to trust her. Even though I knew I shouldn’t.

Looking away from her, I picked a random half grown melon to focus on. The oddly shaped white colored thing was barely able to hold my attention. In fact it couldn’t… but I kept it in my sight all the same.

“The cross, Renn, is a symbol of an old evil. One that no longer exists,” I said.

Renn’s tail thumped me in the back of my thigh, but the way she shifted told me she had not done it on purpose. “Evil?” she asked quietly.

I nodded, staying focused on the melon and not her. I didn’t want to see her expression right now. I couldn’t afford to.

“A very… real evil. Most of the Society despises that cross. Half of our kind killed during the era where that cross ruled, had died by that cross. Most chained to it, in fact,” I said. I remembered those fires well.

Renn didn’t say anything, but she did stand up. She gripped the fence as she stood up straight… and I felt her gaze as she stared at me.

“The Clothed Woman is one of the few left who still worships them. She’s not evil, Renn… in her own way… but religion… her gods, they are. So the painting is important. I need to find out who painted it. And why they had. And who had seen it, if possible,” I told her.

“Amber painted it, Vim,” Renn whispered.

The white melon lost all value as I quickly looked at the worried woman next to me.

“What?” I asked.

“Amber did. I asked who painted it after seeing you stare at it, since I wondered why it was special. Since it hadn’t looked special at all. Amber said she painted it a few years ago. She saw it in a dream I guess,” Renn said with a shrug.

A dream.

A prophecy.

I groaned as I leaned back against the fence. I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose… suddenly exhausted. “Her mother had been a saint,” I said.

Renn didn’t say anything as I processed this information. Of course she had painted it. In a way… that was good. It meant no one from that cult had painted it. It meant no one from the cult had commissioned it.

Yet at the same time it meant Amber had seen something.

“Vim…?” Renn asked worriedly, and I knew I needed to explain it to her. At least enough to make sure she’d not worry and fret.

“It’s okay. I’m actually… a little relieved it had been Amber. I had worried someone from that religious order had painted it, or commissioned it. But learning that Amber had done it from a dream, although worrying, isn’t as pressing as the other possibilities,” I told her.

“How’s it worrying, Vim? If she had drawn it from a dream? What harm could that bring?” she asked.

“Her mother had been a Saint, Renn,” I told her.

She nodded. “I remember that.”

“That means Amber shared the blood of a saint. Someone blessed by their god. Although no real saints exist anymore, and haven’t for a long time… there’s still a tiny sliver of power within them. Her painting it from a dream means she either saw what has happened or what will, in the future. Meaning what she had painted had either been a village in the past, or one to be built in the future. It’s worrisome because if it was the future, it means that cross will emerge again, corrupting those who kneel before it. I had hoped that cult would have been forgotten like so many other things,” I said.

Renn gulped, staring at me oddly. Had I frightened her? I hadn’t meant to. In fact the entire reason I had told her so much was to do the opposite…

“You scare me sometimes, Vim,” she then whispered.

I was glad I was staring at the fence, for I was able to stop myself from squeezing the wood board too tightly. I released it before it cracked in my grip. “I don’t mean to,” I told her.

She nodded. “I can tell. Did you almost break the fence?” she asked, looking at my hand.

“Almost,” I said honestly.

She smiled softly… and looked a little too gentle. What was she, my mother? Why was she looking at me like that?

“Is that religion that bad?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Is she?” she asked.

“No. Not anymore,” I said honestly.

She gulped and blinked. She hadn’t wanted that answer.

“That’s why you scare me Vim. You so easily make me question myself and the world,” she said.

“The world I get, but no need to question yourself Renn,” I said. Especially since I liked the way she was. I didn’t want her to change.

“Should I still paint it?” she asked.

“Yes. Especially now. Maybe if I look at it again, knowing what I do, I can validate the truth. Maybe I can even figure out where or when that village existed, to also make sure it had just been a dream of the past,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll do my best, I promise,” she said gently.

I nodded, thanking her.

She nodded back, seemingly happy again. Her eyes still held worry. Her tail was still hung low… but she seemed relieved. A little calmer. A little more sure of herself.

Yes… I’d hold her to that promise.

Amongst others.

“Careful Renn,” I warned her.

“Hm?”

“Don’t let me rely on you too much. That usually turns out bad,” I said.

Renn held my gaze for a moment, and then smiled. “Well, can’t be that bad. Even if you seem to hate doing so,” she said.

“It does make me feel sick,” I admitted.

Renn laughed at me. “I bet it does!”

Smiling at her, I found myself unable to tell her the truth. After all… it didn’t feel bad to trust her at all.

Which was why it was so dangerous.

Which was why I shouldn’t do it.

Yet… I was still going to bet on her all the same.

“She’s done praying… go spend time with her, since we’re leaving in the morning,” I told her.

Renn’s ears danced as she turned around, and saw the Clothed Woman leaving the church. Renn’s ears actually drooped a little… and she then glanced at me. She looked hesitant, but decided on something with a nod of her head. “You’re right,” she finally said, and then turned away.

Watching her go, hurrying to the Clothed Woman… I hoped I hadn’t made a mistake.

Trusting her with that painting wasn’t too bad… but it wasn’t just the beginning, it was also the end.

Once one made an enemy out of certain beings…

Looking at the church, and the two small women before it… I dared the old gods that used to live there to try it. To try and hurt them. To try and kill those I loved and cared for. To try and burn alive those I protected.

To try and demand sacrifices again, of both others and their own skin.

“Try it. I’ll just kill you again.”