I turn my head to look at him, and he appears to be somewhat tired. I bet that’s because of Captain Cranky.

Oh, that reminds me, I need to ask him about ornery ice bears like Frosty. Hopefully, he can give me some information so I can better prepare for next time.

“You’ve encountered Frostclaws? Those are fearsome foes.” I know, right? And weird too. I have no idea what Frosty’s plan was, but I feel like I was in quite a bit of danger.

“The Frostclaws are quite intelligent beasts, and even adventurers tend to avoid them. Although their organs sell quite well if you can collect them intact.” Yeah, probably not much chance at that…

But I need to know about how they fight. I feel like Frosty behaved oddly.

“Well, they’ll fight in any way they feel they have an advantage. Some of those clever beasts are partial to magic and others to close quarters. Although you won’t really know what you’re fighting until the fighting starts.”

See, now that’s a problem, but it should be manageable since I can just fly until I know which is which. But what about the head-biting? That was very weird.

“Hmm… The beast must have assumed you weren't capable of any more resistance. When it prepares its prey, it will bite down either on a deep wound or the face of its opponent. A most effective strategy. Doing so allows it to funnel frost magic directly into its prey's core.”

Well, dang… That does not sound healthy… Why would they do that, though? Continue your explanation, Wreyn!

“Indeed, they need to freeze their prey to consume it. Those I have observed feeding would shatter their frozen prey and gobble up the shards. Once they have a hold of their prey, very little can be done to escape these strong beasts.”

Geez, it sounds like I screwed up a lot... I’m gonna need something to distract me from how close I was to dying... I'm gonna need some support munching, so I ask Joras to fetch me some food. He just shrugs and gets to it.

In barely any time at all, he returns with some grilled meats, and then he interrupts my thoughts with a question for Old Man Wreyn.

“In case you happen to know, what would you say would happen if, say, a dragon forced as much flame as she could into the belly of a Frostclaw, followed by the Frostclaw using its own magic?”

“Well, that is a good question. Those elements do not play nice together… If I had to make a guess, I would say the reaction would be violent. Why? Do you intend to experiment with this idea?”

Nooo… That would be silly and dangerous! Bone shards and organs and whatnot would fly everywhere! Totally irresponsible to do that.

“Kira already did.” Betrayer! That was a secret!

“Hooh… Lady Kira, I really must ask you to allow me to witness these events you keep causing. I still haven’t seen Dragonflame and now you’re experimenting with mixtures of frost and fire? I’m feeling a little hurt you didn't include me.”

I don’t cause them! I’m merely present when things happen. Do they have a habit of happening to me? Possibly, but that’s unrelated.

We need to talk about something else, and Joras needs to bring me more snacks. I nudge him and ask for more snacks, but then he just groans.

“I’m not your servant, you know.” Okay, that’s fair. Sorry.

He gives me a light tap and a smile as he walks away. Maybe he will fetch snacks! Oh right, I need to ask more questions. I'll definitely need to know more about how to defeat them, so that seems like an obvious next question.

“Hm… To be quite honest, I would recommend that you stay away from them. Even our stronger adventurers are an even match for those fearsome beasts.”

I don’t feel like that tells me much. I kicked the asses of those adventurers, so shouldn’t I be on par with or better than one of these Frostclaws?

“I believe you may be underestimating what a party of adventurers can do. The group you fought acted without any thought. Their front line ran through the mage’s protective barrier and, as I hear it, experienced firsthand what Dragonflame can do. Their archer left himself vulnerable as soon as he thought you had run away. And the mage, arguably the wisest of the three, attempted to surrender against an unpredictable foe. A foe that the group had antagonized unnecessarily."

Okay, yeah, that might not be the best benchmark to judge by.

“Adding to that foolishness, they attacked a foe of which they had insufficient knowledge. Only children and fools rush into danger like that.”

Well, I very much feel like I got hit by a stray attack right there.

I’m noticing that he isn’t actually explaining how I can beat a Frostclaw, so I guess I really should stay away from them, but I still want to recover my hoard.

Since I wanna make sure, I prod him about their weaknesses again, but he just doubles down on telling me to stay away, so I guess I’ll ask about something else.

Shadow man or my magic situation… I don’t feel comfortable bringing up the shadow man after what Joras told me. So I’m going to prioritize a third option that just occurred to me. I need to learn more about these very neat streetlight orbs!

“Oh, we have blacksmiths create orbs of Flameglass and then one of our mages enchant them with an illumination spell. It works pretty well, but they have to be refilled with magic regularly.”

That sounds like a bother, and I’m pretty sure all glass is made by heating something, so I have no idea why they’d name something 'Flameglass.'

“Do you need any for your hoard’s location? I'm certain we could find a couple of spares.” Of course I need shiny orbs of light. With a smile, he agrees to hand over a couple later on. Excellent, I have obtained light!

Looking at one of the light orbs, I’m finding myself quite curious about what would happen if I push magic into one of them, but I need to be careful with my magic expenditure... So being the responsible person that I am, I turn my attention towards more impor… Yeah, I’m doing it.

Touching one of the orbs with my nose, I push a small bit of magic into it. To my surprise, it doesn’t melt like the dagger did, but it is ridiculously bright.

To my other surprise, I have to turn my head away from the blinding light. And I see Joras and Wreyn shielding their eyes. Good call, guys.

“Magnificent! You’re a Dragon after my own heart, Lady Kira! Consequences be damned, find out what things do.” I feel like he just called me reckless…

Joras doesn’t seem too pleased by the blinding light, so he’s quick to suggest we go somewhere else. I don’t see much food left, so I’m inclined to agree. Maybe the townspeople will return to the streets as well.

As we walk away from the bright light someone created. Based on the snippets I pay attention to, Joras and Wreyn are talking about alchemy and trading. Maybe Joras will broker a trade deal and bring more prosperity to Tuiran!

Turns out that traders around here just don’t visit goblin towns. That seems kinda rude. I’m gonna have to look into that and see what’s going on.

Oh! I should bring up my magic circulation problem. That’s why we came here in the first place. So that’s what I do, and I make sure to mention that I’m recovering magic very slowly.

“Hmm… That is most curious… Would you mind if I have a look at your body’s magic circulation?”

I don’t see why I should have a problem with that, so I’ll allow it, I guess.

“Wait! Don’t do that!” Geez, Joras seems to have a problem with that. I wonder what’s got him all riled up.

Old Man Wreyn did stop, though, but he’s looking as confused as I am. What’s the big deal?

“Wreyn, you should know that she will siphon away any magic she comes in contact with. A surface inspection is safe, but anything deeper than that will render you unconscious.”

“Hooh… Is that so? Maybe I should try it.” Okay, just like that, I’m with Joras. We probably shouldn’t be knocking out the leader of the town. I’m pretty sure that is bad for diplomacy.

“If you insist on doing something foolish, I have a different suggestion. Kira is a bit of an anomaly. From what I can tell, her scales are resistant to fire, but also absorb some of the magic thrown at her. That should be something you can see with Mage Sight.”

Wait, we’re back to me being a target? I don’t like that, Joras. And I really don’t like that look in Wreyn’s eyes!

“Hooh, that is interesting.” Yeah, the old man just conjured a fireball of some sort. What the heck is wrong with him?! We’re in the middle of his town; I’ll get blamed for this for sure!

“I’ll remind you, Wreyn, we are guests here. Attacking Kira wouldn’t be a good look. What I had in mind when I made the suggestion was a simple ignition spell.”

“Attacking? I have no intentions of attacking. I’m merely testing a… Ah, I see how this looks, yes. My apologies, Lady Kira. I seem to have gotten caught up in my curiosity. We’ll explore this subject another time.” Yeah, you’d better apologize. That was mean…

“Since I cannot perform a thorough inspection of your magic circulation, I can only offer speculation. So if you would please answer my questions, perhaps we can narrow down a cause for your issues.”

Okay, but no more attacking or being threatening, geez… Instead of dwelling on that nonsense, I ask for his first question.

“Have you recently lost contact with your place of power?” I don’t know what that is. I’m gonna need some elaboration.

“Well, for creatures of magic, a place of power aids in magical stability, and it concentrates ambient magic for the creature. It is a sanctuary, and to lose the sanctuary is to lose a part of oneself.”

Oh, that doesn’t sound good. Well, the good parts sound good, but losing part of myself sounds pretty awful. And I had just dumped my money before Frosty arrived. Dang it…

Sounds like I’ll need to return to those bears again. Hopefully, one hasn’t moved into my cave.

“Now, what else have you done that might affect your magic circulation?”

I guess the bear thing would count. I really did throw everything I had at it. So I bring that up as well, and I tell him about the fight with Frosty and how I fought to get back to Tuiran.

“Joras, I do believe there might be truth to our drunken ramblings… Based on her description of what happened in that cave, she should be dead. Magical creatures don’t just survive depletion like that on top of losing their place of power.”

Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all. Maybe I should have just dug a hole in Tuiran and been an adorable underground dragon. But then groundwater might get me.

Joras chips in and explains what happened after I arrived at Tuiran, but I don’t really remember much of that part. From the sounds of it, I’m a clever cookie who knew exactly where I could get help in my hour of need.

I thought about bringing up the shadow man, but given how Wreyn reacted to me absorbing magic, I’m just gonna not do that.

We’ve been walking for a while now, and Wreyn seems to be leading us somewhere. It’s clear that we’ve entered a different district because it looks more affluent.

The buildings are just that bit better taken care of, and the streetlights are more common. Slowly but surely, folks are appearing again. It feels weird that the streets are mostly empty because it’s still quite early in the day.

“You know, Lady Kira, if you need assistance recovering your hoard, I could lend you Captain Neithro. He’s quite skilled in supportive magic.” Well, I’m up for meeting new people, and I do need to get my money back.

Joras is smirking at me for some reason, so I’m just gonna ignore that. Having a support mage on my team would make me feel safer against the bears, though.

I’m still a little hung up on this lack of a crowd, so I ask Wreyn why people aren’t milling about.

“Oh, it’s the day of worship. Our people gather to worship their chosen God and ask for blessings, guidance, or protection in the coming week. Sometimes the Gods listen, sometimes they don’t, but it always brings peace of mind.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Huh, I nudge Joras and ask him what a god is. I’ve heard the word a few times, but I have no idea what it means.

Now they’re both staring at me. I expected Joras to explain, but Wreyn beats him to the punch.

“Well, Gods protect us and guide us. They are the source of our blessings. The Great God Terragaraem stands up for Humanity and has shared His power to strengthen us. Without His blessing, we’d be feeble creatures, dominated by everything around us. Instead, we tame the land and bring His wisdom to other species.”

I don’t get it. All I get from Wreyn’s rant is that this god thing is powerful and helps humans. I ask Joras if he has a god too, since he’s not human. It turns out he does.

“I do worship a God, well, Goddess. Her name is Mairleark; her domain is nature and life. She keeps the balance of the wild and creates life as easily as she takes it. Her blessing gives my people longevity and proficiency with magic. So I will live a long time, and my magic is strong, but she values balance, so I’m limited in variety.”

Guess he’s like me then. Apparently I also suck at many types of magic. Does that mean Wreyn can cast all sorts of spells?

“Well, I’m certainly proud of my arsenal of spells, but humans are fragile things. If you had to guess, who is older, Joras or I?"

Well, the white hair, beard, and wrinkles certainly make Wreyn look old, but I feel like it’s a trick question, so I’m gonna assume that it is and say Joras.

“Indeed, I am merely seventy-eight years old. Ancient by human standards, but I have no doubt Joras is older.”

Obviously, I ask how old Joras is, and he thinks for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to answer.

“I don’t remember. You would have to ask Lily.” Geez, what an irresponsible guy. But then if these guys have gods, why don’t goblins have a god?

“Well, they’re godless beings. The Gods have decreed through their actions that some beings are unworthy of a blessing.” Well, I don’t like that one bit. Raya is worthy of so many things.

Joras seems to be looking at Wreyn, and I get the impression that he thinks Wreyn is wrong. I hope Wreyn is wrong because that definitely seems wrong to me.

Abandoning that subject for now, I look around as we arrive at a surprisingly large mansion. It has a small stone wall surrounding it, and the house is the typical brick structure with wooden beams supporting it. In my opinion, this yard is way too big; I think I could even spread my wings here.

It does have some very fancy wooden carvings all over, but I don’t recognize the symbols. Wreyn takes us up to the house, and the door opens.

Some young girl stands in the doorway and looks at us, then slams the door. I guess she wasn’t feeling hospitable.

“That was my granddaughter, Emily. She’s a little shy, but she is the most adorable little girl you'll ever meet, I promise.” Still a bit rude to slam the door like that, but there’s no reason to dwell on it.

"Emily, dear, could you open up and say hello? We have guests, and remember that we need to treat guests well. And they come from a different place, so you also need to cast your spell.”

The door creaks open as a sliver of a face peers out of the door, then I feel that familiar tingle.

“Hello.” And then the door slams again. Well, she tried. Gotta give her credit for that. I’m gonna ask Wreyn how old she is because she looks very small.

“She’ll be six this winter. I just hope she’ll grow out of her shy tendencies. It has just gotten worse since her mother disappeared, and now she barely talks to anyone but our staff.”

Wreyn went inside his mansion, leaving Joras and me to wait outside. Joras nudged me, asking me a question. “Why do you think he took us here? I doubt it was to introduce us to Emily.”

He took my thing! I am the nudger here! I give him a nudge and shrug, I don’t know. But I get the impression that Wreyn is a clever guy, so he probably has a plan.

While we wait, I take a look around and this guy has a pretty great lawn. The grass is well taken care of and he even has a flowerbed. Giving the flowers a sniff, I find that I don’t recognize any of them.

I turn to look at Joras and notice that I bumped into something and hear an oomph. “I need to remember that you don’t always look where you move.” Someone knocked Joras over!

As I contemplate whether to leave him on the ground or help him up, Wreyn’s door opens and out comes Wreyn carrying little Emily. And more importantly, carrying a pouch of deliciousness.

“See, Emi, the dragon and the elf are nice people. Do you wanna try feeding the dragon?” Okay, I approve of this plan. I knew he was a clever guy.

The little girl isn’t much of a talker, but she’s very good at staring at me. “Now Emi, if you want to try feeding her, you’ll need to tell her what you need her to do. She’s much too tall for you, so perhaps if you ask her to come closer to the ground, she might do it.”

With my gaze focused on her, she actually manages to squeak out a request for me to come closer, so that’s what I do. She looks adorably nervous. She breaks off her staring and looks at Wreyn for a moment.

“If you pull out a coin, I’m sure Kira here will be quite happy to be fed.” I will, it’s true, get on with the feeding. Feed this coin-operated dragon!

With my focus on the girl, Joras surprises me by having gotten up and walked into my periphery. He suddenly reaches into the coin pouch and pulls out a silver coin, and then he throws it to me.

With tremendous grace, I snatch the coin out of the air, startling Emily for a moment, but then she laughs. She’s quick to pick out another coin and toss it. Unfortunately, she doesn’t throw as well as Joras does, so it lands on the ground.

But the ground is within reach for me, so I eat it anyway! With every coin comes that tingle of power, it isn’t much, just barely a shiver, but it’s there.

Wreyn gives me an expectant look, so I give him a nod. I believe it’s working. As he continues to encourage Emily to throw me coins, she gets bolder and moves closer to me.

She continues doing this until the pouch is empty and she’s standing right in front of me. I don’t think she has realized how close she is yet.

“Well done, Emi! Do you want to pet the Dragon too?” Evidently, Wreyn decides it’s appropriate to show her how to pet me because he just does so.

Reaching out a hand, he places it on my muzzle and starts stroking me. And then Emily does the same! Having her meet new people seems to be going quite well. Well, at least until someone else shows up.

Captain Cranky is standing at the entrance to Wreyn’s garden, and as I turn to look at him, I let out a small warning growl, soon after which I hear a smaller warning growl. Adorable! Emily is growling at Captain Cranky!

Captain Cranky snaps his fingers a few times, and Joras pulls out his dagger and performs his little blood spell to allow communication. I’m thinking I might have to knock this guy down a few pegs at some point.

Captain Cranky looks as cranky as always. He’s pretty consistent that way. But now he also looks determined. “Wreyn, enough playing around. Dragon, did he make the request yet? We need this problem dealt with.”

He did not, but now I'm curious. What sort of problem would a big and fancy mage like Wreyn need help with?

“Of course he didn’t bring it up...” Captain Cranky manages to sound both cranky and exasperated. I can imagine how tiresome it must be to deal with someone as prone to distractions as Wreyn.

“A beast up north is hunting our people, and we can’t find it. It hunts at night using stealth, and the adventurers who were supposed to deal with it are refusing.”

Oh, hopefully that isn’t my fault. I could see how tearing a few adventurers apart in town might deter others.

"Which is part of why Wreyn wants an alternative to adventurers. They are too fickle, and they come and go as they please. A frustratingly unreliable lot.”

Geez, he’s even crankier when talking about adventurers. Well, at least I’m reliable and focused, so I can take care of this really fast!

“Neithro is right. They’ve been reluctant to take the jobs we actually need them to, and it’s causing problems. We’re losing guards, farmers, loggers, and hunters, and everything we've tried so far has failed. We can’t track such a stealthy target without an experienced predator hunter.”

They’re laying it on thick. I’m not sure I could refuse even if I wanted to. The prospect of hunting a beast like that is too enticing. I wanna do it.

“Of course you’ll get the support of Captain Cranky. We can’t have you getting hurt, now can we.” Heh, he used the nickname. Captain Cranky isn’t looking too pleased with that, but he’s earned that name and should be proud of it.

I kinda wanna bring Joras along, but when I ask, he just refuses. He seems reluctant to join fights. That’s okay, though; he can stay behind and wait. Captain Cranky and I will be more than enough for this mighty beast.

Since there’s no time like the present, I suggest we just get moving. Leaning down a bit, I tell Captain Cranky to climb on. And as soon as Joras shows him how, we’re ready to go! And fortunately, I did a great job of guessing when I guessed that this yard would be big enough for my wings, because it is. Just barely.

I dip my claws into the dirt and prepare for take-off, but just as I beat my wings, Wreyn throws us a curveball! “I’ve been meaning to ask, Joras, how come you initiated a pact magic spell but left it incomplete?” A what now?

I look at Joras to see his reaction, he seems just as surprised as I am, what the heck is pact magic... In my haste to listen in on Wreyn's topic, I may have made a tiny mistake. As I was about to take off, the jolt of me stopping sent Captain Cranky falling. He fell right over my face and landed on the ground.

I’m just gonna ask what the heck pact magic is and how Wreyn knows Joras has used it. Wreyn launches into a rather elaborate explanation. "Well, it's quite a fascinating branch of magic, a subcategory of Contract magic. But while Contract magic tends to be one way, pact magic goes both ways. Both parties are contractees, and as such, may utilize each other's gifts to a degree. Magic power, affinity, all sorts of stuff can be done with pact magic."

We definitely need to learn more about that, but then Joras goes and gives me orders... “Kira, you should take care of this problem of theirs, I'll learn more about it and tell you later.” Fine…

“Oh, before you go, Lady Kira, I should offer what assistance I can.” Pretty sure Wreyn is already offering assistance by lending me the captain. What he means this time, as it turns out, is that he will be giving me some of his magic.

A lot of magic. Geez, this guy is loaded with magic. Not so much that he stays conscious, but enough that I’m feeling pretty good, and it’s definitely more than Joras has.

“I swear, Wreyn, this fucking project of yours will not pay off. This Dragon is far too unreliable.” Pfft, I’m plenty reliable. Taking off again, I head towards... where I came from and grab Captain Cranky without landing.

To both of our surprise, I manage to pick him up perfectly and we’re off! Flying with him clutched in my claws is a lot more comfortable than having him sit on me. For me, at least.

I look down to make sure he's okay, and I get the impression that he’s settling in, I even feel him clutching my arm as he watches the ground pass under us. I’m gonna need directions, though, so I shake him slightly and look around.

Captain Cranky scowls at me while attempting to answer me, but it seems Joras’ spell has worn off. As soon as he realizes I can't understand him, he opts to just point in a general ‘north’ direction. Following his directions, it doesn't take us long before we arrive at a settlement, and it seems he wants us to land. As we get closer, I get the distinct impression that something is wrong because I don't think this place is supposed to smell like blood.

Being all impressive and whatnot, I manage to drop Captain Cranky gently. At least he's not complaining about it in any language I know, so I must have done it right. For now, I'm gonna focus on that blood I smell.

Captain Cranky isn't readying himself for combat, so I give him a nudge and a small growl. He's quick to draw his weapon when he realizes what I'm trying to say. His sword is a beautiful silver blade with intricate symbols carved into it. I want it.

I may have become a bit too focused on his sword, because all of a sudden, Cranky is casting a spell and we're being pelted by arrows. The freakin’ blood was masking a group of people!

Cranky pulls out a potion and downs it. He reaches out to touch me, and I feel that familiar tingle. “There, now we can communicate.” Ah, Mind whatever potion. I feel like he could have used that earlier.

"This was a peaceful village, they were supposed to give us information about the beast's last known whereabouts, but fucking bandits have moved in."

With a scowl, Cranky looks around and then gestures towards a particular building. They're all built with similar wooden materials, and I'm having a hard time telling them apart. "We'll need to deal with these scum and report the attack, so don't play nice, burn the place down."

I'm not sure why he pointed out a particular building if he's fine with the entire place being torched, but as we move closer, I hear movement inside. I guess he saw bandits in there at some point. Bringing my tail around, I smash a window so I can blow flames directly inside.

It’s surprisingly fun to burn things, and I can see why my kind has a reputation for this stuff. While I’m busy committing arson, Cranky keeps his barrier going as arrows continue to pelt us from other directions, but it's holding up quite well. It almost feels like cheating.

Now that I'm satisfied with the level of 'on fire' the building is at, I turn around to see where all these arrows are coming from, and from the looks of it, archers are decorating the rooftops.

Cranky starts moving towards another building, but I can already hear the people on top moving to another building to avoid being caught in the flames. What a shame, I guess they won't just accept being lit on fire. Using my fantastic dragon brain, I come up with a plan to stop the barrage.

I leave the comfort of Cranky's barrier and take to the skies. If I can't light them on fire from below, then I'll have to do so from above. To my surprise, I hear Cranky shout from the ground.

“Beg for mercy, cowards, or feel the wrath of Lord Wreyn!” To emphasize, I let out a mighty roar, but they aren’t surrendering. In fact, they're shooting at my airborne self.

Arrows soar towards me and pelt my body as I swing around, lining up with the rooftops. To my relief, these guys are nowhere near as dangerous as the adventurer in Oakhold. Having lined up with the buildings, I fly over them as I let out my flame, setting a bunch of roofs on fire.

The sweet screams confirm my success. The exhilarating feeling of a successful hunt is becoming familiar, but not unwelcome. Bringing my focus back to what we were doing, I look around to make sure Cranky is doing fine. Turns out he's not so fine; a gathering of sword-wielding bastards has him surrounded. That looks fun.

I race towards the gathering and set my sights on the ground close to them. Flying low, I prepare to dig my hands into the dirt, so I can pivot my body and deliver a devastating blow with my tail. This might be the most complex thing I've tried so far. To my surprise, it works! My momentum pivots me, and my tail is swinging around with deadly force. It slams into several fighters, and the smell of fresh blood permeates the air.

Looking around, it seems I've taken down four of them, one of which did not do well dealing with the impact of my bladed tail. But prey still remains, so I'm not done yet. Rushing forward, I aim for two of the bandits to the side and unleash my flame. They're quickly taken down by the heat, having no way to escape the sudden assault.

This deserves a victory roar, so with all my glory, I let loose a bellow from deep within.

To my frustration, my roar seems to have encouraged the remaining five bandits to surrender. To their misfortune, I’m not one for accepting surrender. I step towards them and prepare for another attack; I think I wanna rip one apart with my claws.

Unfortunately, Cranky stops me. “We need prisoners. Scum like this always have a hideout, so we should encourage them to tell us where it is.” He wants information. Well, I want food. I set my sights on one of the burned bandits, but as I step toward it, Cranky stops me again. What’s with this guy?…

As I glare at him, he orders the surviving bandits to kneel in a line. As they do, he moves toward the same burndit I had targeted and pulls out a very sharp-feeling knife. It’s enchanted. Very enchanted, almost buzzingly so.

Leaning down, he grabs one of the burndit's arms and just cuts it off. I was right, that knife is VERY sharp, geez. The knife slices right through the elbow joint of the arm, and now he’s talking to the prisoners.

As he talks, he steps toward the prisoners, waving around the severed arm. “I’m not going to demand that you talk. I’m not even going to torture you for information, but I would recommend that you deal with me rather than Lord Wreyn’s new associate here.”

His little display doesn't seem to have made much of an impact, but then he whistles and nods toward me. Fine, you’ve got my attention, buddy, what now?

To my delight, he throws me the arm! Snack time! I snatch it out of the air and give it a few chomps, then swallow. It’s delicious. Oh, I get it, he’s threatening them. Comply or get eaten.

And it works. Their attitude has changed a lot all of a sudden. It occurs to me that I never made sure the people I tail-whipped were out of commission, I just counted them. Well, that one guy probably is out, but I bring it up with Cranky anyway. "If they survived that attack, they've earned life."

He makes it sound like I used excessive force or something, but whatever, this is his show to run and we still need to find that beast. It seems pretty unfortunate for these bandits to have been found by us, but they did attack this settlement, so I won't lose sleep over it.

Since we're pretty much finished cleaning up this case of banditry, I look around and spot someone I really wasn't expecting to see. Giving Cranky a nudge, I gesture toward the shadow man standing in the middle of the street some distance away.

I wanna know if Cranky sees the shadow man too, and he does. “What the fuck is that… And why is it pointing towards the wolven forest?” Wait, forest? Shit! We need to go, Cranky! Now!