Now this was different, at least.

This was my fifth group of humans I’d found since beginning my search for the bison family. Like all the others, they were sitting around a campfire as they rested… unlike all the other groups though, these ones wore strange cloaks and carried little.

They had no horses or pack animals. Their bags were small and light, one of them still wore hers on her back.

I highly doubted these people were hunters. They could have the tools to hunt and gather food, but they didn’t have any packs as to carry anything they caught. And without all the luggage all the other escaping survivors of the fires all had, I highly doubted they were fleeing the flames either.

There were weapons amongst them, but that wasn’t too strange. Most humans, those traveling outside of the regional areas where humans frequented, carried weapons. Bows and axes were very common amongst hunters and travelers who dared the deep forests… these people however also had spears.

I’d think them a group of mercenaries if not for the lack of noisy drinking and talking. They were all sitting rather quietly, as if there was a heavy air amongst them.

What to think of them…?

I kept a sigh from escaping as I looked away from the group for a moment. The world was dark, and the forest thick. I didn’t need to worry over the humans noticing me, not from this distance and especially not when I was intentionally staying hidden.

There was no need to approach them, or speak with them. Just like the other ones I’d found, in my search for the bison family, none of them would know anything about them. Talking to them gave me no new information or any leads, so there was no point.

Now that I was sure they weren’t Klamma and her family it was time I moved on… to search for any other hint of them throughout this wilderness.

How many groups of people would I go through before I admitted it was a taxing endeavor? I could likely eventually find the bison family at this rate, since I’ve already covered who knows how many miles in my searching… but at what costs?

I had left Renn and the rest near that fire. In danger. Although at that moment the bison family had been priority for me, they were now quickly becoming less so. If they had truly survived as I assumed, then they were likely fine. Simply traveling to wherever they figured they’d go. Either to another Society location, maybe even Telmik since they were religious, or simply spending time in some random human settlement until they figured things out.

I’d already been at this for four days. The soon to come sunrise would make it the fifth day. I didn’t worry too much over Renn and the others, they were smart and strong. Or well… Renn was. Oplar was strong but she was not a warrior. She’d quite literally allow herself to be killed out of pure fear and worry under duress. Her only saving grace was that she was strong and durable enough to run away when the time came, and survive because of it.

If she could run though, leaving Renn and Sillti behind… Might be difficult for her. Oplar was a coward, but she was not one to abandon those she considered friends.

Plus it wasn’t like they were too far from Telmik. If not for the fire I’d not worry at all. This area was Oplar’s stomping ground. She’s traveled these roads her whole life… but…

But all the same, even if I didn’t need to worry for them… I still did.

I didn’t want to admit it, but the fact was I did worry. I worried for Renn. I worried about that expression she had given me upon my leaving. I worried for her safety, and her happiness. Was she getting enough to eat? She never asked for seconds outright, and never really told anyone when she was hungry. Renn would pretend to not be hungry if everyone else ate small or simple meals, out of some strange humble kindness as to not bother anyone.

It meant she went hungry more than not when she spent too long with others without me. It was why I always tried to sneak her off to go eat or grab snacks, when we were visiting other places. So that she could get properly fed.

I blinked as I realized I had just prioritized Renn’s hunger over the safety of a whole family, and flinched.

Damn me.

“We obviously failed. What do we do now?” one of the humans spoke up and asked.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts as I focused on the people not far from me. This was the first time I’d heard them speak since sneaking up on them.

“We can’t go back until we know if we truly did fail yet or not,” another said.

“Stop the fires. That’s what she said. Now half the world is on fire, I’d say that’s a pretty big failure if you ask me!” a third woman shouted.

“Don’t shout! My head hurts!” one of the men complained.

Someone threw something at another, and I listened as the five people all bickered and hurled insults at one another. It sounded like there were two women and three men, and none of them seemed to like each other much.

They were now arguing and shouting over idiotic things, like how hungry they were. Not whatever failure they had supposedly done.

Still…

Fires. They had been involved in the fires…?

Maybe I should talk to them…

Rounding the tree I was hiding behind, I studied the group as I approached them. None of them noticed me, even as I entered the small area of their campsite.

“And you wonder why you’re unmarried!” the tallest of the men shouted at the woman who still carried her bag on her back.

All but one of them had their hoods down, but they still wore their cloaks. They were thick, durable, looking poncho styled things. More suited for the far north than here. It was the type of hooded cloak that I bet Renn wore most of her life while living in the north. She had likely looked good in it.

“Tough words from a tough man!” the other woman defended her fellow, and suddenly the men were facing off against the women.

What the heck was this…? How’d sniveling about failure, and hunger, turn into some kind of sexual confrontation?

I crossed my arms as I decided to see what happened. I was annoyed, and felt like a failure myself, so this was very therapeutic for some reason.

“I told you we shouldn’t have brought them. We should have brought Keith instead,” one of the men said.

“Ha! That’s all your problem is, isn’t it? You miss your lover-boy!” the woman with the bag shouted.

“That’s it!” the man who had been ridiculed and stepped forward, but before he could do anything two of the other men grabbed him.

“Just stop it for now!” one of the men shouted as they all struggled and kicked up grass and dirt. The man who had stepped forward to attack the woman was genuinely trying to free himself. He looked hell-bent on getting to her.

The two women stepped back a step, but neither of them cowed.

Interesting indeed. But as humorous such a sight was, I did have things to do.

“Did you all start the fires then?” I asked loudly.

All five of them went instantly still.

Now the focus of their attention, I kept myself from smirking at them. I could almost taste the complex confusion and worry in the air.

“Who the…?”

“Well? Did you?” I asked, before anyone could say more.

“Brave!” the woman screamed, and I frowned at the word.

Brave…? Be brave maybe…? Or…

One of the men who had been holding their fellow back from assaulting the woman rushed forward towards me… and I realized it hadn’t been a statement, but a command.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He was brave as his name declared.

A sword flashed out from beneath his thick cloak and in a blur of movement the man went from being many steps away from me to right before me. He swung the sword down towards my head at an angle, as if to cleave my head in two.

Maybe they were mercenaries… this man had just attacked me with such speed and surety that there was no way he wasn’t some kind of experienced warrior.

I ducked the attack that would have likely worked on mostly any other human.

The blade swooshed past my head, and he landed so harshly on the ground from his momentum that he fell forward and ran into me.

Either thanks to his sudden shock at my dodge, or his quick attack not being properly planned, he genuinely ran full bore into me. I held firm as the man impacted me, and the man bumped into me and then flew backward.

He tried to remain on his feet but the impact must have hurt him. His heavy cloak flapped all around as he stumbled backward and fell to the ground, his sword flew off in the tumble and landed in the small campfire nearby. The fire was almost as noisy as his fall as it was scattered, sending ash and smoke all over.

“Brave!” another man stepped forward, the first and only to not be so shocked by what had just happened. Although he stepped forward to help his friend, he fumbled with his own sword. He was trying to draw it but the handle was getting stuck under his thick cloak.

Either he was not as proficient a warrior as this Brave, or the shock of seeing a man bounce of another had really unsettled him.

“I’ll be honest I’m not in the best of moods. It’d be best to simply answer me. Were you all involved with the fires or not?” I asked firmly.

“Cat,” the nearest woman turned and hissed at the other woman, the one with the bag. Cat startled, glanced at the other woman and then nodded.

Then the two spun around and ran off.

I was stunned for a moment as I watched the two women run off into the dark forest… leaving us men behind.

“Get him!” Brave shouted from the ground with a point at me.

I blinked, and turned to look at the three men. The two standing had gotten their weapons out; one had even procured a spear. Brave, the man on the ground, was quickly getting to his feet.

Great… maybe I shouldn’t have walked out from the shadows so readily. I should have just stood there and listened longer… this was becoming a pain.

The man with a spear quickly handed his sword to Brave, who drew it and readied himself with a nod.

I sighed as the three men got into position, and I realized I had made a mistake.

They were indeed trained. They were now standing in a very obvious pincer formation… with Brave in the center. It was obvious their goal was to kill me, without hesitation.

My fault really… I had startled them, I suppose. But…

“We do not need to do this. I simply wish to hear more of what you…” I started to speak, but they weren’t hearing any of it. The three rushed forward, all aiming for my life.

Narrowing my eyes at them, I wondered if I should just hurt them or not. Although they were indeed trying to kill me, it wasn’t like I was in genuine danger. If anything I felt kind of bad for forcing them into this position…

I stepped forward as Brave attacked again. This time he spun around to swipe his sword at my right arm and shoulder. He attacked with the same swiftness as earlier, but not the same haphazard momentum. He was now more on guard, more steady. He was unsettled by what had happened but wasn’t letting him stop him or impede his skill.

The man was experienced, at least.

Reaching out I grabbed Brave’s sword right above the hilt and his hand. I held it in place in the air, mid swing, and he let out a cry of shock and pain as his hands flung off the sword and into the air. He had tried to pull the sword free and by doing so had hurt himself, maybe even broke fingers and wrists.

I tossed the sword away behind me and reached out to grab him by the shirt. I felt bad for him, but a few broken bones was far better than death. Plus it would help me stave off having to hurt and kill the others… hopefully.

Grabbing his shirt I hefted him and flung him to the left. I made sure not to throw him too harshly or too high, and he landed a few dozen feet away between some trees. He rolled lifelessly a bit before coming to a stop near some bushes. He didn’t move or get up from the toss, but I didn’t study him too long. Instead I focused on the two men still before me.

Both of them were staring at Brave who was lying lifelessly with wide eyes of shock.

“It’s him!” the man with the spear screamed in fear.

“It’s me?” I asked as I hesitated. I had been about to slap the spear out of his hands, to put him down as I had done his friend. Not to kill him, just… hurt him enough to scare the third and last man. To scare him enough to answer my questions.

“Demon!” the third man screamed as he stepped forward and swung his sword.

Demon…?

I frowned and wondered how long it had been since I’d been called such a thing. Years at least.

Were these churchmen… then…?

A flash of pure rage blinded me for a tiny moment… and the next moment, once I got it under control, I groaned as I found only one man in front of me.

The man with the spear was staring at me with pure shock… his spear upward as he clutched it to his chest with both hands. They were clasped together around the same part of the spear’s shaft… as if in prayer.

I heard a loud crash behind me. I heard tree branches and leaves shatter and break. I heard flesh and bone do the breaking and then break themselves… and then finally a heavy thump of flesh landed on the forest ground not too far away.

Woops.

The spearman fell to his knees before me and begun to whimper a prayer. He was sobbing now, and I wasn’t able to even make out what kind of prayer he was making. Was that of the northern or eastern faiths? Had he mentioned holy father or holy mother? Or…

My head began to hurt as I realized I had really screwed this up. Not only had I now possibly killed two people who may or may not have been completely innocent… I had also just allowed my own personal emotions to kill a man.

There was no way a normal human could have survived such a throw. Brave may still live, but…

I glanced to the nearby body. The brave man I had thrown first. He was still not moving.

Great. Just great.

The second was far behind me. Likely a heap of broken bones.

And the only man still conscious…

“Please…! Please…!” he was begging to his god, head lowered. His spear still in his hands and pointed oddly, thanks to the way he held it. If he clung it any closer to himself it’d break his neck.

I sighed as I shook my head.

Come on Vim. Get it together. What would Renn say if she saw this?

“Feel like answering me now?” I asked the man.

I had planned to do this. To scare one of them enough to answer me… but… well…

“O’ Soul and…” the man though instead kept on praying, completely ignoring me.

Just great. When men like him got like this…

Even if I did get him to answer me there was no telling if it would be the truth. Or even enough of one.

Deciding to play the cards I’d dealt myself I stepped forward and grabbed the man by the middle of the face. I made sure to leave his eyes over my grip, so he could see me, and I made sure not to break bones so he could talk.

I didn’t squeeze too hard, but I got his full attention. He forgot all about his god as his blue eyes began to tremble up at me.

“Did you start the fires?” I asked coldly.

“No…!” he shouted.

“Who did?” I asked.

He began to shake and tremble all over. It felt very weird to feel his head almost vibrate within my grip, as if being shaken. “My god…!” he shouted.

I knew he didn’t just say his god had started the fire, but instead was calling out to them for help instead.

“What do you know about the fires?” I asked.

He closed his eyes and I felt the tears on my hand… and then…

His trembling turned into a couple of very heavy twitches and spasms… and then his eyes opened up with pure terror…

And then he took one final deep breath, and then went limp.

“You’re kidding…” I groaned as I stared at the dead man I held up by only his head.

Letting the man’s face go, he crumpled forward. I had to step back and to the side since he would have fallen onto me. His spear thunked against the grass as his whole body landed upon it… and he went completely still.

“Vim…” I chastised myself as I knelt down and grabbed the man’s wrist, to check his pulse.

What should have been easy to feel, since it should have been beating wildly in stress… was instead not recognizable at all. There was no pulse.

Letting his wrist go, I reached up to rub the bridge of my nose and eyes.

“What are you doing, Vim…?” I asked. Why did I just kill two, possibly three, people? For what reason? And what had I gotten out of it…?

Standing up, I flinched at the sight around me.

Two visible bodies. A third that I knew was not far… an empty campsite with a few spears lying around, and a few bags. A smoldering fire that was now about to go out completely thanks to the sword that had fallen into it.

I kicked the body of the man, who had died from a heart-attack or something like it, over and bent down to move his cloak and shirt a little… and sure enough found a chain of silver. I tugged on it, breaking it and stood up as I stared down at a very unfamiliar cross.

Frowning at the weirdly shaped thing, I wondered what kind of religion they were servants of. It was nothing like the crosses of any of the major churches around here, nor anything like any I knew. It wasn’t inverted like the Epoch cross, but it had two small circles around a second set of crossbeams. It gave the thing a strange, misshapen and almost messy look. As if it wasn’t a religious motif at all.

Some of the papal crosses had multiple crossbeams, and not a few over the years had rings or circles… but…

I pocketed the cross, since I might need to look into the sect later… and then stepped forward towards the fire.

Kicking the fire around a bit, to further put it out, I then hurried off in the direction the two women had gone.

With those three men dead, or at least out of commission, they were now of no use to me. And after going this far, and doing this much, I may as well see it all the way to the end.

Though… I’ll try not to kill the two women too.

Granted that would depend on what truths they revealed or not, of course.