The wagon was overweight. I could hear the axles and wheels scream in stress, and the two donkeys pulling it were also breathing heavily in strain.

Glancing at Lasly and her kids, who were all on the wagon alongside the several layers of stacks of goods, I wondered if I should say anything or not.

Had they not noticed the several broken carts and wagons, abandoned on the side of the road we were on? They’d be joining them soon if they weren’t careful.

At least her husband was not on the cart too, but walking in front of the donkeys guiding them. But something told me it’d not matter.

“Renn.”

I glanced down, and smiled at the one holding my hand. “Angie,” I said back.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Well…” I hesitated and glanced to my left, at Oplar.

“That is a good question…” Oplar mumbled.

“I thought we were going to Telmik,” Sillti said from the other side of Oplar. I could only make out her hands when they swayed forward, since Oplar blocked her from my sight.

“We are… well… we’re supposed to, I suppose,” Oplar said with a sigh.

“I’m sure Vim would understand. Hornslo burnt down, after all,” Sillti said.

Angie’s hand squeezed my own, and I glanced down at her. “Hm?” was something wrong…? But no. The girl wasn’t even looking at me, and instead forward. She might have just done it absentmindedly.

Looking back to Oplar, I gestured lightly at the wagon in front of us and the long row of other carts and wagons ahead of it. “Is there not a town this direction?” I asked. Where else were all these people going? Half of the shop owners in Hornslo were here with us, in something akin to a caravan. They had all chosen to travel together it seemed.

“There’s several. But who knows how long Vim will be. It really would be better just to return to Telmik, honestly,” Oplar said with a sigh.

“Then why stress over it? Let’s just do that,” Sillti said.

“Because I really, really, wanted to watch them flirt more…” Oplar said with deep regret.

I paused a moment, and couldn’t help but gawk at Oplar. She had been serious!

“I don’t. It just makes me depressed seeing them together,” Sillti said.

Groaning as I kept walking, Angie squeezed my hand again. “Vim’s your husband…?” she asked softly.

I nodded. “Yeah… regretfully,” I said with a sigh.

“Regretfully she says!” Oplar snickered happily.

While Oplar laughed I did my best to ignore the looks we were getting from the people around us. Not far behind us was another wagon. One that was covered, but there were a married couple sitting at the helm. I could feel their stares burning the back of my head. They’d been whispering about the four of us ever since we had left Hornslo this morning.

They hadn’t been whispering anything bad, of course, but it felt really weird to be hear some of the things they were whispering to each other. Throughout the day they had gone from wondering if we were traveling prostitutes, to wayward nuns. It was amusing, but I knew Oplar’s maniac laughter hadn’t been helping prove them wrong.

“Husband must have run off,” the wife whispered to her husband, who grunted in response. The type of grunt that usually joined a nod.

Oplar snickered some more, and I knew it was because she too had heard what they had said.

“Humans sure do like to stick their noses into stuff,” Sillti whispered quietly.

“It’s fine. They’re bored, and we’re great entertainment,” Oplar said.

“Vim doesn’t like it when we stand out,” I noted.

“Aye he don’t. So make sure not to tell him!” Oplar said as she reached over to wrap her arm around my shoulder.

I allowed her to give me a weird side-hug, and couldn’t help but smile and sigh at her. She really was fun to be around, at least.

“Where is he?” Angie asked innocently.

“Her husband went to search for our friends. In the mountains nearby,” Oplar said as she tugged on me a little, as to lean me backward just enough that she could look Angie in the eye.

It was a little uncomfortable, but I allowed it. “In the fire?” Angie asked worriedly.

“Aye. Likely. He’ll be fine though, don’t you worry. See her? She’s not worried either, and she’s his wife,” Oplar said with a point at me.

“Only an idiot would worry about him,” Sillti mumbled.

“I do worry… kind of…” I said softly.

“Really?” Sillti stepped forward, to round Oplar and look at me.

I nodded at the woman who was rather fixated on me rather seriously. “Yeah… what if he gets distracted?” I said.

Oplar’s arm around me got stiff, and Sillti’s shocked expression turned into a disappointed frown… then she sighed and returned to walking on the other side of Oplar.

Oplar immediately began to giggle. “Distracted by what, Renn?” she then asked.

“Well…” I hesitated since Angie was listening intently too.

Oplar’s giggle turned into a full on laugh again, but this time she at least let me loose so I didn’t need to feel the whole laugh resonate through my body.

Rolling a shoulder, somewhat similar to what Vim did occasionally, I smiled at my friend who happily shook her head at me.

“Men who get easily distracted are not worth anything, per my mother,” Angie then said.

We all paused a moment, and then even Sillti and I laughed alongside Oplar this time.

The young girl frowned at us, likely thinking our laughter an insult to her or her mother, so I quickly pulled her a little closer to me. “Your mother was very right,” I told her.

“Aye. Take it from me, a man who notices what he shouldn’t and gets focused on it instead of you isn’t worth being with,” Sillti said as well.

“Now, now. If a man’s too focused that can be a bad thing too,” Oplar said.

“Not if he’s the one you’re focused on,” Sillti argued.

I frowned at that. “What about me then? I can think of a little over a thousand things Vim would place above me, so…” I said, thinking of the members of the Society.

Oplar and Sillti both went quiet a moment, and Angie’s hand squeezed mine again. I glanced down at her and found her staring up at me with a sad look.

Oh…? I hadn’t meant to make the air so heavy. I had kind of meant to make a small joke… even if it was serious, and true.

Vim had already told me, rather clearly, that he’d always place the Society above me.

It was why he had ran off into those fires without any hesitation after all. Leaving me behind.

“I’d not thought of that,” Oplar then said softly.

“Me either. I guess I shouldn’t be so jealous so quickly,” Sillti agreed.

“What… you’d rather it be the opposite?” I asked them.

“Well… no. But in your perspective, that’s kind of sad,” Oplar told me.

Stillti leaned forward, to look at me. “Yes. I’d feel slighted. I don’t know if I could allow that, myself,” she said.

“What…? Really?” I asked. She’d not have allowed Vim’s dedications had she been in my position…? Really?

She nodded seriously. “I want to be the most special thing to him. Even if it means it’s selfish, it’s the truth,” she told me.

Wait… “Wasn’t that the issue though…?” I asked wearily.

“Yeah? In a way Rollo’s fascination with you, his focus, was the cause of what he did… no?” Oplar agreed with me.

“I mean… yeah…? But that was him taking it too far. That was greed, not love,” Sillti didn’t even hesitate to give an answer.

I hummed a little as I saw it from her perspective. So Rollo’s selfish desire to keep her for himself, although what she wanted, had been wrong because it had been the wrong type of desire?

“I get what you’re saying, but still…” Oplar said softly, seemingly not willing to point out the flaws in such a view.

Maybe I shouldn’t either. Not right away, and not here and now.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“His love has to be broad enough, but focused. If it’s too dedicated to you he’ll be a bad father. He has to open his heart enough to include the children, and extended family as well. And your community if there is one.”

I turned to look at who had spoken, and frowned at the young girl.

What the heck…?

Oplar began to laugh. “She’s not wrong!” she shouted.

Angie huffed at Oplar’s laugh, but didn’t say more.

“So uh… they mature fast, don’t they…?” Sillti mumbled. I knew she didn’t mean young girls, but humans in general.

“Not in my experience,” I said.

“Men never mature,” Angie then said with another huff.

Oplar’s laugh became even louder, and she stepped around me and grabbed the girl by the waist. Angie’s hand slipped out of mine as Oplar lifted her up and placed her on her shoulders. “Alright! I’ll not feed you to the horses after all!” Oplar said happily.

“I was perfectly fine walking!” Angie said loudly, trying to speak over Oplar’s mighty laugh and voice.

Smiling at them, I stepped back a little as Oplar swayed a little, to annoy Angie who was now riding her shoulders.

“Let them wear each other out,” Sillti said next to me.

I frowned and nodded. Right. Oplar did seem to always have excess energy.

While Oplar harassed Angie, I spent a moment to check our surroundings. I verified the long line of wagons and carts were all still there, and nothing too untoward was happening.

It all looked fine. Up and down the road, which I could see for a long distance thanks to the small curve of it, seemed to be relatively calm. There was a little distance growing between certain carts and groups it seemed, but it was most likely because some horses were slower and older… and well… others…

Glancing at the wagon we were walking behind, and the speed it was rolling along at, I wondered how long it’d take until Oplar decided to abandon them and increase our pace on foot. We could be walking much faster than this.

I did feel a little thankful to Lasly and her family. Although they were… odd, and a little rude, they weren’t evil people in general. They had allowed us to stay at their inn, and eat and drink our fill, only asking for a little help in exchange. Plus although she had been rude originally about Angie’s arrival, come morning of the next day she had become nice to her and offered her medicine since she had been sick. And during the two days that had followed, while Angie recovered in bed, it had been Lasly that took care of her most.

In fact… Lasly had also offered to take Angie. The supposed priest that was supposed to show up never did, and no one had been able to find him. So the innkeeper, upon deciding the priest wasn’t going to show up, simply made the decision to take care of the girl for the indefinite future until something happened.

It had been a little humbling… though for some reason Angie had kept lingering near me and Oplar instead of Lasly and her family. Maybe it was because Oplar and I had eaten with her that first night.

Still… regardless of what happened with Angie, what were we going to do about our travel plans?

Lasly and her family were currently heading the same direction we needed to go… but would we travel with them the whole way? At the pace they were traveling with their wagon it’d take months to get to Telmik. Plus it wasn’t like they were actually going to go all the way to Telmik anyway.

“What are you thinking, Renn?” Sillti asked quietly.

“Let’s check that hill!” Oplar said as she stepped away with Angie, heading for the edge of the road. There was indeed a hill right near us.

“Just… keeping an eye out, I guess,” I said to Sillti as I watched Oplar climb the hill. It wasn’t that big, but it took her a few moments to reach the top.

“Hm… So far it hasn’t seemed that dangerous. Other than the fire,” Sillti said.

“It can change rather quickly. Humans can be… fickle,” I said quietly.

“Are they all like that? She talks as if she’s an elder,” Sillti asked with a glance at Oplar and the girl on her shoulders.

“No. I think she’s just… well… because of what happened. She just lost her home and family. She’s an orphan now,” I said.

“That makes you mature?” she asked.

“Maybe. Some people are like that too… just calmer than other people. I bet Vim was like that when he was younger,” I said.

“Vim… younger…?” Sillti mumbled as she thought about that.

I smirked at her. “Think he had been cute when younger?” I asked.

Sillti’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Renn… please...”

“What…?” I asked, what had I said?

“You’re making me question everything I believe in… it’s weird,” she complained.

“I uh…” I wasn’t sure what to say. What had I done?

“I can’t imagine it. Vim? Young?” Sillti said, telling me what had bothered her.

The very concept of it had disturbed her. Interesting.

“Vim’s claimed he had been a rambunctious child, but something tells me he doesn’t’ remember it properly. I bet he was all quiet and moody,” I said with a smile.

Sillti groaned and covered her face, exasperated.

Grinning at her, I wondered if this was what Vim felt when he teased me sometimes.

For a few steps Sillti frustratingly rubbed her eyes as if exhausted, and then sighed. “Speaking of children… what will you do with her? Do we take in abandoned humans?” Sillti asked quietly, changing topics.

We…? I smiled gently at her. So she still saw herself as a full blown member of the Society. Good.

“I’m told there are orphanages at Telmik. My plan is, unless she ends up staying with Lasly, is to take her to those,” I told her. I had made the decision earlier.

“Hm… did you and Oplar talk about this?” she asked.

“No. But I bet she’d agree with me, why?” I asked.

“Nothing… I just wanted to know if it was common to help humans or not. I had thought it was the opposite,” she said.

“Oh. Well… there are some in the Society who wouldn’t help, yes. In fact there are many. But I’m not like that, and I don’t think Oplar is either,” I said.

Sillti nodded. “I’m glad. I had been worrying about it… what with you being Vim’s wife and all,” she said.

I felt my tail twitch beneath my leather and clothes. “What uh… what’s that mean, Sillti?” I asked carefully.

She shrugged. “He’s Vim? He slaughtered hundreds of us. Children too. So… well…”

My stomach twisted and turned, painfully, as I realized she was right. He had told me he had done so himself.

“Well…” I spoke with a dry mouth, suddenly feeling sick.

“I know now he’s not really like that! I know it’s likely just some weird legend, or misunderstood story, I just… it’s hard I guess. Like you talking about how he had been young at one time. It’s going to take me time to… well… process this. For most my life I saw him as some kind of god, yet here he is… just a normal person. Or well, normal in a certain sense, I guess,” Sillti said with a strained smile at me.

Misunderstood story? Not at all. Vim had admitted it to me to my face.

I better not tell Sillti that though.

“Right… I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“For what? This is why I left home. To broaden my world. I just… didn’t think it’d be like this, I guess,” she said with a sigh.

I smirked at her. “It’ll get weirder. Wait till you talk to giant animals, or meet a saint,” I said.

The young guinea pig shivered. “Oh Vita, please no monarchs. Least of all without Vim here,” she said with a hush.

Oh. Right. Most of the Society was terrified of them. For good reason, I guess.

As I pondered that, I realized something interesting.

Vita…?

Vim Vitae.

Wait…

I slowed to a stop, my mind going numb.

There was… no way, right?

Was it just coincidence? They weren’t said the exact same, but…

“Renn…?” Sillti paused too, noticing my worry, and I did my best to quickly bottle it up and tuck it away.

“I’m fine, I just… realized something I uh…” I stuttered as I kept trying to calm my mind down.

Why’d it take me this long to realize it? And was there actually a connection, or did I just make a mistake…? Had I misremembered Vim’s name? Surely not, right?

I’ve never said it. Not aloud. Not since he had told me. Out of respect. Vim so obviously didn’t want anyone to know anything too detailed about himself, so I made sure not to say such things around anyone. Not even when I thought we were alone, just in case.

He had trusted me. To tell me his name. So I wanted to not just cherish it, but earn it. So…

“Renn!”

A new shout alerted me, and at first I hurriedly glanced behind me. Because I had assumed that I had been paused for so long that the horses behind me, pulling the carts and wagons, had caught up to us. But they hadn’t. There was still plenty of distance between me and them.

So…

Looking to Sillti, I found her staring wide eyed up and at an angle. To my right. So I then turned to look up the hill.

And found Oplar hurrying down it, Holding Angie to her chest as she did. To make sure the girl didn’t drop or fall.

Oplar was running quickly. Too quickly. She ran with such speed that any of the humans around us would notice and find it odd. It was uncharacteristic for her. And to top it off… she had a look I did not like upon her face at all. It was a stark contrast to the happy grin she always had.

It was a look of utter worry.

Something was wrong.

Steeling myself, I stepped forward towards her. I reached down, to grab my sword’s handle. My hand slid against the hilt, and firmly gripped it as if grabbing Vim’s hand. It was so instinctual now that it was scary. I had gone so long without even thinking about the thing. The weapon had become another piece of clothing, nothing more. Something I’d grown so used to, that I never even thought about it anymore.

“Brigands!” Oplar shouted as she reached the road… and right as she did, horses appeared over the hill.

My eyes went wide at the sight of gleaming metal. Spears. Arrows. Swords. They reflected the sunlight as they were brandished. Many horses rounded up and over the hill, one after another, causing the whole caravan to shout out in alarm. But it was too late. They were already upon us.

Although many had rounded the hill only four horses approached our area. They weren’t necessarily chasing after Oplar, but they were heading our way. There were dozens of other horses all up and down the hill, but they weren’t my main concern at the moment. They were going after the wagons and carts. Likely the goods that were weighing them down.

I didn’t care for the items. In fact… I didn’t even care for the humans at the moment.

All I cared about were the people right next to me. Members of my Society.

Oplar reached me, skidding to a stop on the dirt road as she hurried to round me. I heard Sillti let out a weird groan of worry. Angie was clinging to Oplar for dear life.

“Renn!” Oplar shouted at me with a voice full of fear. It seemed her claims of being a coward had not been a lie. She seemed to joke and laugh a lot, but this hadn’t been something she had done so about.

“Get behind me,” I said without even thinking about it.

She did, and I heard her grab Sillti as well. The three went behind me as the horses reached the road. Two of them turned left. One turned right… and the last, a gray horse with a broad shouldered man wielding some kind of flail or mace upon it, headed straight for us.

I only needed to look into the man’s eyes for a single heartbeat to know his intentions. To know what I would have to do. I’d seen such eyes before in my life. Far too many times. Lately Vim had been here for me, to keep those eyes away, so I hadn’t needed to worry about them the last few years except in those sewers at Lumen.

The man saw victims. I didn’t need to look behind me to know what he saw. I could hear it. Feel it in the air. I heard Oplar whining, like a tiny dog whimpering from a beating. I heard Sillti hyperventilating, as if in shock. And I knew that although I wasn’t doing the same, I did by appearance at least, look like just a young skinny woman. Too small and frail to be anything but a victim. And… honestly, deep inside, I too was scared.

I knew what a weapon like that could do. I knew that being ran over by the horse could do far worse than that mace. I knew the man, although human, could be brutal and ruthless. Death was the least of his kindness.

And although as terrified as Oplar was… I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Stand tall,” Vim’s voice echoed in my head, and everything changed.

Drawing my sword, the blunt weapon I used to train with Vim, I hardened myself and steadied my now quick-beating heart.

I had people to protect. My friends. My family.

And Vim wasn’t here.

So it was time.

Time to stand tall.