Goslin appointed Kax the lead and the rest followed behind the shorter man, since his sword had proved effective against the beast.

The night was still dark and empty, but at least they were getting closer to the gate. Sarien could feel the power inside the left part of him beat in turn, almost like a heart matching another.

“Not far now,” he said, almost whispering.

“I hope Daisy is unharmed,” Hart muttered from somewhere behind him.

All of them carried torches now, after Heylien made a few extra from branches, cloth, and oil. It still wasn’t enough. The sounds the trickster beast made in the distance were enough to set anyone on edge, and Sarien already didn’t consider himself to be the bravest person in the group. He’d finally relented and allowed Hart to take his spear for the time being. He couldn’t deny that Hart was the better fighter but being without his weapon made him feel exposed and useless.

“Where were you, Heylien?” Sarien heard Goslin ask.

The answer came from somewhere in front of him. “Went scouting. Not far, I promise. Didn’t find a damn thing, just the stink of blood all around the forest. When I returned to the village, you were gone. Couldn’t get anyone to open their door, so I followed your trail. Caught up just as that soldier got up and, well, you know the rest.”

“Please help me!”

Sarien stopped in his tracks and all except Heylien held out their torches, trying to see further into the forest.

“It sounded different than before,” Goslin said.

“Up here! In the tree!” It was the frantic voice of a young man. Sarien looked up and saw a small flame flickering halfway up one of the trees to the right of the path, revealing a youth of perhaps sixteen years. He wore the bright red and orange robe of a firemagi, the same Sarien had left behind in the village, stuffed in his pack.

“Who are you?” Goslin asked. “Why should we trust you’re not that trickster beast?”

“I’m Tvalfager! You’ve seen it? How are you still alive?” The youth’s voice trembled with both fear and relief. Sarien narrowed his eyes. The performance was very convincing.

“Answer the question,” Hart growled. “Or we’ll put an arrow in you.”

Tvalfager thought for a moment, then increased the size of his flame, and said, “It can’t do this, can it?” It was more of a question than a statement.

Before anyone had a chance to consider what Tvalfager said, a bone-chilling cackle came from somewhere among the trees behind the pyromancer. The youth cried out and turned his flame in the direction of the sound.

Within the blink of an eye, the forest lit up in an explosion of fire. Billowing streams of fire shot from Tvalfager’s palm, obliterating everything in its path. The flames lit up the forest for a moment and it was enough for Sarien to see a small but humanoid creature scuttling away through the underbrush. It looked different from what they’d fought in the clearing, but there was no doubt in Sarien’s mind of what it was.

“I saw it,” he yelled, pointing. “The pyromancer can’t be the trickster!”

“That bastard is toying with us!” Kax yelled. The part of the forest Tvalfager set fire to smoldered, but the wood was too damp for the fire to spread.

“Doesn’t that mean it’s intelligent, like a human?” Emeryn asked.

“I don’t know,” Sarien said, as Tvalfager lost his balance and fell with a scream. He hit branch upon branch on the way down, sometimes breaking them, other times coming to a stop and sliding off, before finally landing in a patch of moss with a muted thud.

“Ow,” the young man said, laboriously getting to his feet. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” His red robes were caked with mud and the fabric frayed at the hem. A large rip ran along the left side, from his chest down to his knees.

Hart held out Sarien’s spear to ward the youth off, the dark tip pointing straight at Tvalfager’s chest. “Not another step.”

“Heylien and Lana, keep a lookout for the trickster while we talk to Tvalfager here,” Goslin said, his tone hushed, as if worried the beast might be listening in.

Sarien couldn’t help but worry too. It was like the forest conspired against them. The dark and the thick underbrush blinded them, and the complete silence weighed heavily.

“Tvalfager,” Sarien asked. “You know who the director of embers is at the tower?”

He nodded vigorously. “That old bastard, Elden. I’ve only been a full pyromancer for six months, dealt a lot with that goat.”

Goslin looked at Sarien, who nodded. “He’s correct. Bjorn Elden.”

“How do we know that it can’t take your memories too?” Lana asked.

“Now you’re just being paranoid, Lana,” Emeryn said. “We all saw the thing running away, and how would it get your memories? I’m sure this young man here,” she gestured at Tvalfager, “is who he says he is.”

“Well, what if there is more than one?” Lana retorted.

Tvalfager jumped back with a yelp, staring at Emeryn’s empty coat sleeve. “What happened to your arm? Did the beast take it?” Emeryn just shook her head and sighed.

Goslin took over. “Tvalfager. Tell us what happened here. Why were you up in that tree? Where are your friends?”

“Dead.” The young pyromancer’s voice sounded hollow. “They’re all dead.”

“What happened?” Goslin asked, urging him on.

“We, my master and I, received a letter from the tower. It said to come here and investigate a disturbance. Something about possible holes in the air. We didn’t really understand that part. They wrote that we should exterminate whatever was out here and take control of the area, so we recruited a bunch of soldiers.”

“It didn’t go as planned?” Kax asked.

“Hold on,” Goslin said. “You weren’t sent by the king?”

Tvalfager’s face reddened enough to make out even in the dim light from the torches. “No. The instructions said to disguise the soldiers in uniforms to make it look official. Look, I have no idea what the real reason was for sending us here, but it wasn’t to deal with that beast. Master scoffed at the villagers’ fear.”

“Tell us what happened to you here,” Goslin demanded. A grim look had settled on him when the youth told them of their impersonation of royal troops. It was a treasonous act that could result in execution.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“The smell of blood came upon us so thick we could barely breathe. Then it grabbed a soldier and ran off with the man like he weighed no more than a child. It all happened so quickly, we couldn’t see what happened. The soldier, I don’t know his name, returned, claiming he’d escaped.”

“It wasn’t him,” Sarien said.

Tvalfager shook his head. “No. It wasn’t actually the soldier. The beast toyed with us, picking us off one by one. We tried to strike it down with our spark, but it was too fast. My master burned large parts of the forest in anger, or fear.” Tvalfager paused. “I wanted to go back, but my master refused. All he said was that we had to abide to the letter and our orders.”

“Then what happened?” Goslin asked.

Tvalfager slumped. “Five soldiers remained when we found this path you’re standing on now.” He shuddered and looked around. “Hold on.” Several orbs of fire shot from his hands and landed out in the forest forming a half-circle.

“Just a little more light,” he explained. When no one congratulated him on his ingenuity, he continued with his retelling. “A little further down this path, there’s a large clearing. We found something there. I can’t quite explain it, but that is where the creature takes its prey.” Tvalfager fell silent.

“Go on,” Kax urged. The group stood clumped together, as if drawing courage from each other’s closeness. Only Heylien stood off to the side, his eyes scanning the darkness around them. They hadn’t heard any movement from the beast in a little while and Sarien wondered if it was listening in to Tvalfager’s tale as well.

“There isn’t much more to say. It came for us. My master managed to strike it down with fire for a brief moment, but then it just shrugged off the attack like it was nothing. The beast grabbed him and I ran. I could hear the monster tearing my master into pieces.” He shuddered. “The screams.”

Tvalfager looked up. “I’m no coward, you understand. My master’s spark was powerful. But he couldn’t hurt the thing. I can still hear it laughing as it slaughtered everyone around me. I couldn’t…I can’t…”

Tvalfager took in a deep breath as if to steady himself. “I ran as it butchered the soldiers. Then it came for me. Taunting me from the shadows, appearing like my master…I climbed up the tree in desperation. I thought I was dead.”

He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “I don’t know why, but at some point, it disappeared. I thought it was waiting for me to climb back down. I couldn’t do anything to help the others. You have to understand.”

Emeryn reached out to Tvalfager. He flinched but didn’t pull away. “You’re safe now,” she said.

Tvalfager looked up at her with wide eyes. “No, you don’t understand. It’s already too late for you. You’re out here now. It’ll come for you all, too. We have to run. Go back!”

He frowned, remembering something, before turning to Sarien. “You know Bjorn? Are you a firemagi?” Tvalfager pulled free from Emeryn and grabbed Sarien by the shoulders, shaking him. “Why did you send us here? Why did you send us to die?”

Tomford pulled him back. “Get a hold of yourself!”

“Just help me get out of here!” Tvalfager yelled, pushing back against Tomford.

Goslin stepped between them. “I’m sorry, friend, but we’re not leaving until we’ve dealt with the beast.”

Tvalfager stared at him, incredulously. “You’re going out there? After what I just told you? No. No, you can’t do that! What are you? Stupid?”

“That’s enough out of you,” Lana said. “You can stay here if you want.” She looked at Goslin, and Sarien didn’t think she was all that sure about his decision either, but she wouldn’t question him in front of the panicked pyromancer.

“We’re going,” Goslin said. “We could use your help, but I won’t force you to come. It’ll be light out soon. Perhaps you can make your way back to the village on your own.”

Tvalfager shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere by myself.”

Goslin nodded. “Kax, you take the front again. Everyone, keep your wits about you. It will be watching us.”

Tvalfager walked behind Sarien as they started up again. “Are you really a firemagi?” he asked, voice low as if trying to keep the others from hearing.

“Officially, yes,” Sarien replied. “But I don’t have a spark.”

“How does that work?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. Stop talking.” The youth kept yammering on in a panicked rush and was getting on Sarien’s already stretched nerves. Yes, he was traumatized and very young, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t annoying.

The thrumming inside Sarien steadily increased with each step, and now that they were so close, it was almost deafening. The sensation rushed through the entirety of the left part of his body, thumping along with his racing heartbeats.

When the stink of blood filled their noses and mouths, Tvalfager finally clamped his mouth shut.

The dead were strewn across the clearing, the grass soaked with blood. Sarien stepped over the dismembered limbs and disemboweled torsos in his path. The bodies were ripped apart, as if toyed with.

Sarien covered his nose with the sleeve of his coat. The dead stared up at him with glassy eyes. Chunks of flesh were missing, but it didn’t look like the beast actually fed on them. Bile rose in his throat, and Sarien swallowed again and again.

Finally, Kax spoke. “There’s so many of them. Are they all villagers?”

“And soldiers,” Tomford added. “Travelers passing through.”

“It may be disguised as any of these corpses,” Goslin said. “Be careful.”

They scanned the macabre scene before them, inching further into the clearing. Sarien gagged when he stepped on a severed hand, his boot slipping on the slick, bloody piece of flesh.

“There it is,” Goslin whispered, pointing to the middle of the clearing.

Hart pushed his way to the front, Sarien’s spear raised and a maniacal look flashing in his eyes. “The beast?”

“No,” Lana said. “It’s an opening of some sort.”

Sarien’s head snapped up. He hadn’t even been able to focus on anything except the overwhelming number of corpses but his companions were right. There it was, standing before them in the center of the clearing, a clear space without corpses around it.

It sang to him.

Sarien blinked, refocusing. It wasn’t a door, but certainly a gate of some sort. It looked like a rip in a piece of fabric, the tear showing an unfathomable blue sky and a rolling field of green grass.

“What does it mean?” Emeryn asked.

“Another world,” Sarien whispered. He could feel the summer heat through the tear.

“Do you think the trickster beast came from there?” Heylien asked.

“If it did, there could be more of them on the other side,” Goslin said. He winced. “My initial plan was to funnel it back to its own world and close the door behind it. But the more I think on it, the more I realize we can’t subject whoever is on the other side to this monstrosity.” He looked to Sarien. “You can close it, right?”

Sarien nodded. “I think so.”

“What in the name of searing fire are you talking about?” Tvalfager asked. “You really mean to fight it?”

“This isn’t the time for panic,” Goslin yelled. He took a deep breath to collect himself, breathing out slowly through his pursed lips.

“Here’s what we do. Sarien will close the gate and we’ll protect him while he does so. When the trickster comes, we’ll kill it with Kax’s sword and Sarien’s spear.” He nodded at Hart. “The rest of us will harry it as best we can. Tvalfager, I’ve got a job for you, if you’re up to it.”

“What?” the pyromancer said, though his face was pale with a sheen of cold sweat.

“We need light if we’re going to fight it. Can you set a fire that circles the clearing?”

“Obviously, I can do that,” Tvalfager said. “But I won’t be able to help more than that. I’ll have to focus to keep it burning in this damn wet.”

Goslin nodded. “Do it.”

Tvalfager closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were hard and focused. Fire burst from his outstretched palms, starting at the path from which they had all come and circling them.

The blistering heat made everyone take another step into the center of the clearing. In a matter of moments, the whole forest around the clearing blazed with tall flames.

It didn’t provide as much light as Sarien had hoped, but it was better than the few torches they carried. This way, they would at least see the creature as it entered the ring of fire. Sarien dropped his torch on the pile with the others, where they smothered out from the wet grass.

“I’m ready,” Sarien said to Goslin.

Goslin nodded and motioned the others to follow. They walked into the middle of the clearing, approaching the gate that hovered about a foot above the ground.

Tomford guided Tvalfager, as the pyromancer was so focused on this task that he hadn’t realized that the group had moved.

When they closed in on the gate, the trickster beast leapt through the fire like a ghost and landed in the clearing. It growled at them as it eyed the gate. It was no longer laughing.

Sarien glanced from the opening to the beast and back until Goslin nudged him in the arm.

“Focus on the opening,” he whispered. “Let us deal with this foul monster.”

Sarien forced a smile. “Good luck.”

“You too, friend,” Goslin said, giving Sarien’s shoulder a squeeze. He let go, turning to face the prowling beast with the rest of the group. “Kax, Hart, I’m counting on you! Let’s show this creature what we’re made of!”

Heylien loosed an arrow, striking it between the eyes. Except for a slight flinch, the trickster barely noticed being hit. Lana’s daggers flew through the air and struck the beast across its throat and nose. The attack angered it, and the beast let out a horrifying screech that filled the air with an overpowering stench of blood.

Bile rose in Sarien’s throat and he turned his back to the fight. He trusted that Goslin would lead them all to victory.

Sarien focused on the gate. He would not let them down.