Aranis wasn’t wrong about the region. It had a higher crime rate than most Valley region and was not well patrolled by the knights, although it didn’t take them long to wonder why it was the case.

The last village they passed dissuaded them from continuing further, which only convinced them that they went on the right path. It took them only two hours travelling to be ambushed by some bandits with the usual demands: leave whatever they had so that they would not get hurt.

Raine would try and talk them out of it if it wasn’t for Narati acting first. He did not hesitate to unwrap his unusual weapon. Despite Raine telling him not to, Narati switched on the circular saw axe by flicking a switch at the base of the machine. The saw whirred to life, showing the bandits that it was not a weapon they should take lightly. The unnerved bandits were soon dissuaded when one of them declared that it was only to scare them with loud noises and attacked, only for Narati showing how dangerous the weapon was by sawing off his hand, spraying blood everywhere. The Fa’ar, glaring at them with his blood-caked fur, taunted them with his raspy voice, giving the visage of a terrifying, demonic rat far from what others perceived of his kind, causing them to run away. Raine finished the job by stabbing the bleeding man through his heart, just as Karkas knocked Narati’s head.

“I told you not to use that thing so close to us! Now look at what you did to our clothes!” reprimanded Karkas.

“I didn’t expect them to attack!” reasoned Narati. “I thought that noise is loud enough to scare them!”

“Seriously, Nara, when will you accept that not everyone is going to fall for that tactic?”

“I gotta try, alright? Besides, you disapproved of me using my grenades, now you disapprove of my weapon. How am I supposed to defend myself?!”

“Kid, for the last time, use a battle axe!”

Karkas and Narati’s bickering left Aranis and Sakiri at a loss for words.

“They are…quite an interesting group, to say the least,” commented Aranis while nervously laughing. “Though hardly the first for me.”

“Should’ve just chanced it with some less friendly guide if this is always the case,” said Sakiri.

The Chitra soon noticed Raine kneeling beside the bandit he had just killed, who was still bleeding profusely from his sawed-off arm. He pulled out something from his neck. It was a locket of some sorts, albeit with something else on it. Only Raine knew the significance of the symbol.

“Now I know why this region is unprotected,” said Raine with a sigh.

“Why?” asked Sakiri.

Raine simply showed her the locket. The symbol on it was a cross wrapped by wreaths of unidentifiable flowers. There was a big scar on it, which made the cross barely recognizable.

“Deserters,” said Raine. “Or maybe the dishonorable ones. They are as trained as the knights of the Emerald Valley, so that’s why this region is not as enforced as others.”

“Your own military has deserters?” asked Sakiri.

“We’re hardly the most stable of regions,” said Raine. “Mostly due to the self-governing of regions based on the havens. Cavilen is fortunate to have a peaceful, pastoral community and a diplomatic relationship with the Kingdom of Fen. The rest of the Valley, though…is not as stable. I’m actually glad to know that our neighbors like Pipper are spared from this kind of shit, but in truth, we have no control over how the other regions control their territory.”

“Ah. Not…that different from where I came from,” commented Sakiri.

“This guy came from Spack Bay, close to the sea. No wonder he deserted.” Raine sighed. “Anywhere close to the sea is doomed to fail eventually.”

“It is not as bad as it was two hundred years ago,” said Aranis.

“Heh. Yeah. Of course, you’d say that. Let’s just get him out of the way.”

Raine convinced Karkas that Narati’s action had a point, though he also reprimanded Narati that it was unnecessary in the long run. He did assure the young Fa’ar that he made it clear that they were not some simple travelers. With Karkas’s help, they moved the body away from the road and went on their way.

“So, how far is this abandoned town you are talking about?” asked Raine. “And what kind of curse are we dealing with?”

“It’s not that far from where we are,” said Aranis. “While there is no evidence of a curse, the unusual deaths for the past decades are still unsolved as of today.”

“Well, nobody’s gonna solve the curse with how badly ungoverned the region is. I bet it’s someone who’s good at killing them and spread the rumors of a curse. I bet some people didn’t believe them and found themselves at the end of someone’s blade.”

“That is a good assumption,” said Aranis. “And given how the person knows how to keep the bandits out by making unusual roars coming out of the town, I say he knows what he’s doing.”

“Roars, too? Wow. This guy really wants everyone to stay out, huh?”

“But what if it is a real curse?” asked Karkas. “The Crocodilians had a long history regarding curses. Dealing with them…is never pleasant.”

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about dealing with one,” said Raine.

“Only the curses related to my homeland, unfortunately. If this is Valley-related, then it’s out of my depths.”

“Then let’s hope that’s not the case. Nara, in case this is a curse, I want you to stay out of the town. If it isn’t, I’m sure you can run to us. Can you do that?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Yeah. I’ll stay close.”

“Good.”

Soon after, they reached a peak and found the town. From afar, the town did not look any different from most towns. It was just like a lot of towns that were in the Valley, complete with a wall surrounding it. Just as Aranis said, there were not a camp or settlement around the abandoned town. It was left in ruins just like it was a long time ago, probably even before the war.

A closer look from the peak, however, made one thing clear. The town, despite years of abandonment, was relatively untouched. Many of the buildings, most of which were made from bricks and stones, did not show advanced degradation, or even signs of rot. There were little ruins and, even if there were, it was not significant enough to worry about. The town, for all intents and purposes, looked as if frozen in time.

There were remains of roads that led to the town, withered by age, and fared worse than the walls and the town itself. Roads were much faster to degrade than buildings, especially since, outside the town, there weren’t any walls to prevent constant erosion. Yet, the slow degradation of the town within the wall was intriguing.

All of which pointed towards magic. Something or someone went to great lengths preserving the town. However, when they approached the gates, there weren’t any traces of mana use or artifacts that were used to sustain any barrier. Then, when they entered the town through a smaller door beside the gate, it quickly became clear that the reason was much simpler than that.

The town itself was relatively new, though only Aranis realized this at first glance. Many of the buildings were not of pre-war architecture. A lot of the decorations were still legible and not eroded by weather. Only those made out of wood and plants did not survive, which showed that, despite it being relatively new, the town was still old enough for wood to rot.

The main avenue of the town was big enough to fit two lanes per side, yet it was disproportionately short. There was nothing to warrant the construction of such a waste of space unless it was part of a network of road now long gone. Its status as a post-war settlement made the town itself a mystery.

“Twenty houses for twenty families,” surmised Karkas as he looked around. “Big enough for a settlement, if it wasn’t for the bandits.”

“Or the alleged curse,” said Raine. “So, we can rule out the curse and focus on the guy?”

Sakiri, who was examining the avenue, said, “No, not a ‘guy’. A beast. Come look.”

Raine walked towards the Chitra and knew what she meant: claw marks on a wall, and ruined buildings. They were the only ruined buildings they could find in the mostly preserved town except for some that were supported by rotting wood. These buildings, however, were destroyed by something else. There were also suspicious scorch marks on some of the walls facing the avenue.

“Claw marks on the stone road,” pointed Sakiri. She then turned her attention to the claw marks. “These are made by sharp claws in one swift attack. Five claws…this beast has five fingers.”

“Beast person?”

“Too big, and not possible. Leonians can’t do this…or that.”

Sakiri pointed towards the other end of the road. A corpse, freshly killed, suffered a wound that left a big, gaping hole on his chest. Accompanying the Loup was an unidentified person. From the body, they could tell that the other person was human. He was horribly mangled, with his head missing. From the wound, his head was violently ripped from the base of his neck.

“I don’t think those are from five years ago,” said Raine, drawing his sword. He also noticed that the corpses were in front of the entrance to an underground tunnel, on the other side of the town. The avenue was the only main road that went into the tunnel, which could be accessed from either side without the road separator.

“Blood trails, going into the tunnel,” said Sakiri. “That’s its nest.”

“So, we can scratch out ‘someone doing all he can making terrifying noises’ from our assumptions?” commented Raine. “And add ‘actual beast’ on that list?”

Their ears quickly caught screaming voices, causing them to turn their heads towards the entrance. By this point, Sakiri already pulled her daggers.

“We better warn the others,” said Sakiri. “I have a bad feeling. There is something wicked and wrong in there.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, but I believe you,” said Raine, who had started backing out. “Come on, Kiri. We better get into the open before—”

A burst of blue flame came out of the cave without warning. Sakiri’s instinct and foreboding feeling gave her time to dodge, while Raine was a bit too late. Out of reflex, he held out his sword and imbued it with Counter spell. To his surprise, the fire was deflected off the blade, though not entirely. He couldn’t stay and counter the magic-based fire as it was clearly beyond his capabilities, so he rolled away to safety when he realized that he would be overwhelmed by the fire.

Aranis and Karkas separately saw the fire and rushed to the area, weapons drawn. The fire was hot enough to suddenly change the temperature in the air. The intensity of the fire was not something that would be possible for a regular person, even someone gifted with great mana pool, to cast. Something created the fire, one that could create a loud, uncanny roar that started guttural before turning into a high-pitched scream. This was nothing like the scream of terror that Raine and Sakiri heard moments before the fire. It was bestial, and somehow weirdly familiar.

“What in Sobek’s name is that sound?!” exclaimed Karkas. "Nara! This isn't funny, kid!"

While Sakiri cautiously tried to get to Raine, Aranis pondered on the sound and the fire. She came to a horrifying conclusion.

“Keep your guards up! That isn’t just any creature! That is a—”

She was interrupted by the same terrifying screeching roar before something came out of the tunnel. She managed to finish what she was going to say as everyone became momentarily stunned by the creature.

“A dragon,” finished Aranis.

***

Narati knew better not to risk his life after getting sick after dealing with Aether, which was part of the reason why he did not object when Raine told him to stay out of the town in case it was a curse. Though he personally did not believe that was the case, Raine did not wish to risk the Fa’ar’s health, especially after he was made aware of the Aether sickness by Aranis.

Which was why he hesitated when he heard the scream-like sound while he was waiting on the other side of the town. It did not sound like a scream of terror and it was too faint to be close by. He peeked through the open gate to see who or what made that noise. He became scared by it.

However, he soon found that his friends were engaging the creature. He quickly tried to formulate a plan to catch the terrifying creature unaware before he realized that he could potentially be rushing into danger that could easily incapacitate him before he could do anything meaningful.

He reluctantly stayed, knowing that he would look stupid if he ended up causing more trouble. Yet, the more he stayed, the more uneasy he became. His friends were struggling to fight this gigantic, winged creature and were approaching the side of town where he was. Sooner or later, Narati had to join the fight. If he ran away, he would not be able to face his friends, even though he knew that was the right choice considering the risk.

He was never the kind of person who would run away from trouble. That’s what got him into trouble in the first place, especially when he was interacting with people, most of which Fa’ars, who readily sell him out just to get away with their mistakes. This time, however, he had friends who cared for him, and even reprimanded him for showing excessive violence. Then, there was the dark-skinned elf, who Narati barely knew, yet did not hesitate to heal him.

They were his family. Why would he think twice about saving his family? Even Raine, who had no obligation to save him back then, convinced a hardened wolf man to take him along, and he decided to be useful for them, even if he had no voice back then.

Shaking his head, Narati said, “Ah, shit la. Don’t think, Nara, just go and help them!”