“The what?” Kax’s question echoed off the walls.

“That’s what we call it,” Rowan said. “It comes to the village and speaks with the voices of those who have disappeared. Not only that, but it takes on their appearance as well. Wears their likeness like a mask. It’ll scratch at the doors and windows, demanding to be let in. And when someone does, they too are gone.” Rowan paused as if to catch his breath. “I’m afraid your friends from the king won’t return either.”

“Why do you stay?” Emeryn asked.

Rowan sighed again. “Some have left, like the former mayor. The remaining villagers picked me to replace him. Most of us have lived here our entire lives. We wouldn’t know what to do anywhere else.”

“So, you’re saying no one returns from the forest?” Goslin asked.

“That’s right,” Rowan confirmed. “We’ve gone looking as a group once, early on in the attacks, but found no trace.” The young man wrinkled his nose. “Only the smell.”

Lana sank down on her heels, her back to the wall. Her voice shook tremulously as she asked, “Smell?”

Rowan looked at her. “Blood. A stink of blood so strong it’s like you can taste it.” He shuddered. “I hoped the pyromancers would succeed but it’s been over a day. They are likely dead by now.”

Goslin straightened. “We’ll go. I promise we’ll come back victorious.”

“You shouldn’t. What could you do that pyromancers couldn’t?”

“Don’t underestimate us!” Kax yelled, grinning. “We won the Eldsprak Academy tournament!”

“The what?”

“Never mind that,” Goslin said. “We will leave right away. Which way did the previous group go?”

Rowan unlocked his door and pointed straight into the dark forest behind his house. The trees were close enough for branches to brush against his roof.

“Over yonder.” The mayor looked at them again and shook his head in resignation. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to leave, instead?”

“We can’t leave such a beast to haunt these woods,” Goslin said with confidence Sarien didn’t feel. He looked warily into the dark woods, the thrumming he felt earlier still present.

Rowan nodded. “Just stay together then. Don’t get separated, whatever you do. Don’t trust anyone you see, even your own friends.”

“Have you not tried attacking the beast?” Tomford asked.

“Yeah,” Hart agreed. “There have to be enough people here to form a posse and go for its throat?”

“We are not soldiers. Most villagers here are older, and more than half are women.” Lana glared at Rowan at those words and he held up his hands defensively, before stammering on, “In the beginning, we searched for the missing, but soon realized that there’s nothing we could do.”

“You can rest easy now,” Goslin said.

They said farewell as the mayor went back inside and locked the door behind him.

“You sure sound confident,” Lana said.

“It’ll let our dear mayor rest easy in his sleep tonight,” Goslin answered.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Kax said. “He was spooked, and I don’t blame him.

“Where is Heylien?” Tomford asked.

Goslin frowned. “He should be back by now.”

“The trickster beast might not be from our world. I still sense the opening, the gate,” Sarien said. He squirmed under the direct attention of the others. “It was the same with Daisy.”

“Where is Daisy?” Emeryn asked.

“Made him wait by the horses,” Hart said, gesturing to where their horses were tethered to a post. Daisy sat there, watching the group.

“You just told him to wait and he waited?” Kax asked. “Obedient little bastard.”

Hart shrugged. “They like to feel useful.”

“You know a lot about dogs,” Lana said.

Goslin lit one of the torches with a match before passing it onto Kax. Kax used it to light the others. They huddled together in the light. “Let’s focus,” Goslin said. “We have to find Heylien and then head to where Sarien believes the gate is located. There is a good chance that is where this trickster beast has made its home. I’m not sure how much of the mayor’s superstition we can take for fact, but it’s best to be careful after our encounter with the luisons.”

“Can we trust our dear archer?” Kax asked. “Based on what the mayor told us, the beast could be wearing Heylien’s face.”

“We will have to see when we find him,” Goslin said.

“And the pyromancers? Having two pyromancers on our side wouldn’t hurt,” Tomford said. “I hope they’re alive out there.”

“Heylien is our top priority.”

“Daisy, let’s go!” Hart yelled, and the shaggy white dog ran up to his side with a lumbering gait as the group set off for the forest.

The narrow dirt path forced them to walk in a single line. With no one to his left or right, Sarien couldn’t help the feeling of isolation as it crept in closer the further they descended into the trees. Hart walked in front of him and Sarien could only see the back of his head. Emeryn followed behind. Tall grass and bushes closed in from both sides, obscuring his feet. Sarien didn’t carry a torch, so he followed the comforting light that Hart carried.

Something irritated the back of Sarien’s throat, and he coughed to clear it. Sniffing the air, he realized it was an underlying scent that kept bugging him, so faint he could barely smell it. He took in a deep breath and nausea struck. The hair on his arms stood on end and he started choking.

Blood. “Are you well, Sarien?” Emeryn asked, her eyes filled with concern.

“Don’t you smell that?”

She sniffed the air, then wrinkled her nose. “What is that?” She glanced behind her.

“Blood,” Sarien said. Daisy looked back at him for a brief moment before turning back to his master. Daisy and Hart barely fit together on the path, and the dog kept having to maneuver around bushes and bits of tall grass. There was something just a little bit off about how the dog moved, like it wasn’t used to walking on all fours, the two pairs of legs not quite matching up in its strides.

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“Hart,” Sarien said.

Hart turned to look over his shoulder. “What?” He looked scared, eyes wide and face twitching.

Sarien pointed to Daisy. “There’s something wrong with your dog.”

“I know,” Hart said, “Just realized it too.”

The dog looked back at Sarien again, its snout pulled widely in a grin. Without warning, it got up on its hind legs and made a sound Sarien would never forget. Not a bark, not a scream, but something in between. Like a dog trying to sound like a person. Before anyone had a chance to react, it ran off into the thick underbrush.

“What in Eld’s flaming beard is going on?” Kax asked, sword in hand.

“It was here!” Lana screamed. “Didn’t you see? The dog!”

“Where did it go?” Goslin asked from up at the front.

“Should we follow?” Tomford asked.

“Sarien, which way is the gate?” Goslin asked. Sarien pointed the way they were going.

Goslin nodded. “Right. It knows we’re here. Lana and Hart, you keep a lookout to our left. Tomford and Kax, you make sure our right is clear. Sarien and Emeryn check our rear.” He thought for a moment, “Actually, Hart, you fall back and keep our rear. I want someone with a sword back there.”

“Right,” Hart said, pulling out his sword.

Sarien pulled the spear from its sheath on his back. It wasn’t very long, but he still had to make sure that it didn’t tangle up in branches.

“Do you think Daisy is hurt?” Hart asked. “Did it pretend to be him ever since we left the mayor’s house?”

“I don’t know,” Sarien said. “I think so.”

“How did you know?” Lana asked. “About the dog, I mean.”

“It didn’t move quite right.” Sarien shuddered “It looked at me.”

“Looked at you?”

“Like it understood what I was saying,” Sarien said. “And then there was the smell of blood. It was faint at first, but it was there.”

“Wasn’t pleasa—” Emeryn started saying, but then she fell, tumbling forward. Sarien’s spear tangled, and he couldn’t catch her in time. “Ow,” she mumbled, falling flat in the dirt.

Sarien helped Emeryn to her feet. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said. “That’s something they don’t tell you about losing a limb.”

“What?”

“My balance is off.”

Emeryn brushed off the dirt from her leggings with her one hand.

“We’re at a disadvantage here,” Goslin said. “Can you sense something about how far it is, Sarien?”

“It’s not exact or anything, but I would say we’re nearly there. Maybe another half hour.” They’d been walking for the better part of an hour in the dark and the cold. Sarien shivered, but he didn’t know if it was from the chill in the air or the threat of the beast hunting them.

An unknown voice drifted through the air. It was barely audible, but the message was clear enough.

“Help me.”

A male voice.

“It could be Heylien,” Lana said, making as if to stride out into the forest.

Goslin grabbed her arm. “It could also be the trickster. The mayor said it would try to lure us.”

“But what if it’s not?” Lana demanded. “We can’t just ignore it.”

They stood waiting for the sound to return. Nothing happened for a long moment, then it came back, louder than before. “Please help.”

“We keep going straight ahead,” Goslin decided.

Lana looked at him incredulously. “But it could be Heylien! We can’t leave him out there with the monster!”

“If it is, the beast will follow us and leave Heylien be,” Goslin replied.

She shook her head but followed. “I don’t like this.”

After several minutes of walking in silence, they heard the voice again.

“Help.”

Kax pointed into the forest with his sword. It was barely visible in the dim light from the torches. “It’s back.”

Tomford nodded. “From the same direction as before.”

“It’s following us,” Lana said. “Not Heylien.”

“Where is he then?” Emeryn asked.

“You need to see this,” Goslin said as he moved aside, showing a clearing that the path crossed. At the other end of the clearing, just where the path entered the forest again, sat a man against a tree. His head was slumped forward, and he didn’t move.

“He’s wearing Fyrie uniform colors. It’s a soldier,” Goslin said.

Lana hefted a dagger in each hand. “Be careful.”

Emeryn went down to her knees to touch the ground with her hand and waited.

Goslin stepped forward, but Tomford grabbed his arm. “Let me. I’m more protected.”

Goslin nodded and let Tomford continue. “Be careful, Tom, you’re not indestructible.”

“Wish we had some more light,” Kax muttered, peering into the trees as if expecting an ambush. “What do you think happened to him?”

“Shush, Kax,” Goslin said.

Tomford edged closer and hunched down to reach over and touch the man’s head. A few heartbeats later, he stood and turned. “He’s dead.”

Sarien watched as Goslin exhaled, realizing then that he was also holding his breath. “Let’s keep going then, Heylien—"

Sarien watched in horror as the dead soldier got to his feet in one silent motion. Where his face was, there was only a cavity of blood and gore. It looked like something had bitten chunks out of his flesh.

“Behind you!” Sarien shouted.

Tomford spun, but it was too late. A backhanded blow cracked across Tomford’s back, flinging him with such force that Sarien couldn’t help but scream. Tomford grunted as he flew across the clearing to land somewhere out of sight.

The soldier’s body undulated and shifted. The clothes melted away into flesh as it grew taller. The stench of blood grew so overpowering that Sarien’s eyes watered. He could taste iron in his mouth.

The trickster beast’s transformation was quick, but it wouldn’t have mattered if it took several long minutes to change its appearance. Sarien stood, transfixed. No one else moved around him.

Shadows danced across the beast’s form as its legs grew thick, and its upper body twisted into a mockery of a man’s torso, spindly and muscular at the same time. Short, dense fur covered the entire being, and Sarien thought he saw hooves peeking out from above the grass. Its head elongated, twisting to take on the obscene appearance of a man grotesquely fused with a bear. A wide maw opened as it shrieked in defiance.

“Attack!” Goslin bellowed. “Before it’s finished doing whatever it’s doing!”

The beast lifted its head as Hart ran at it with his sword held high over his head. He swung, aiming for the trickster beast’s outstretched arm. The sword struck with a thud but did not cut through the beast’s flesh. Hart blinked. He stood there, dumbfounded, as the thing withdrew its arm with a gesture that almost looked arrogant to Sarien. There was no blood. The strike hadn’t hurt it at all.

It swung its spindly arm at Hart when Goslin charged in with his shield and absorbed the blow. Despite steadying himself, Goslin lost his feet at the impact and tumbled to the ground.

Arrows flew from somewhere unseen, and, at the same moment, Lana threw daggers from behind. Both arrows and daggers flew true, but they bounced off the beast harmlessly.

“What do we do?” Lana screamed.

The trickster cried out, a terrifying sound like a child screaming and a goat braying.

Without warning, the beast leapt, landing beside Emeryn. It reached one giant hand for her, but she managed to throw herself to the ground. Sarien watched as Emeryn tried to catch herself, but with her missing arm, she fell hard, hitting her head against a stone. She whimpered as the beast closed in.

“Use fire!” Goslin yelled, running at the thing with a torch. “Burn it!”

The beast turned its attention away from Emeryn and kicked Goslin. By sheer luck, it struck the man’s shield, throwing Goslin’s arm wide. Fire licked the beast’s fur, catching hold. Flames spread across its back, but it seemed unaffected as it grabbed for Emeryn again.

Emeryn was ready. The ground beneath its hooves rumbled and opened, causing it to trip and fall right above her. She cried out and wrapped packed earth around her to cover herself in a cocoon.

Arrows and daggers flew for its eyes, mouth, and between its legs. It bellowed in anger and rose to its legs, arms flailing.

Kax jumped forward and slashed at its hand. It looked eerily human with its five long tapered fingers, only they ended in sharp claws.

“Eat shit!” he yelled as he struck. Sarien couldn’t tell if Kax or the beast was more surprised when two fingers on its hand were lopped off. The trickster beast cried out. Not in fear, but in anger.

“Sarien!” Kax yelled. “Use your spear!”

Sarien thrust again and again, moving closer with each strike. The beast scrambled away, growling, then turned and ran. Sarien could see the blaze of fur disappear into the shadows of the trees.

“Hurry after it!” Hart screamed, grabbing for the obsidian black spear. Sarien pulled it away.

“No!” Goslin screamed. “That’s what it wants. We stay together!”

“What in fire’s name was that thing?” Heylien asked, his voice trembling. “We couldn’t even injure it.”

Emeryn rose from her earth cocoon, shaking off the loose dirt from her hair. “How are we supposed to beat that?”

Tomford clambered out of the underbrush.

“Tom!” Sarien yelled. “Were you hurt?”

“I’m fine, just a little bruised. Where did it go?” Tomford asked.

“We chased it off,” Sarien said.

Hart panted hard, hands on his knees. “We have to leave. We can’t beat it.”

“No, we can’t just leave the villagers at its mercy.” Goslin glanced at Kax’s sword and Sarien’s spear. “We were able to wound it, which means we can kill it.” He pointed down the path where they had been heading before the attack. “Is the gateway still down that way?”

Sarien nodded.

“Then we hunt,” Goslin said, a quiet intensity to his words.