The gnolls were practically slobbering as they closed in on her, knowing as well as she did that she was trapped. This close, she could see that their eyes were a bloodshot yellow, and she could smell their foul breath. Their wide black noses twitched with excitement, knowing that the kill was coming.

They can probably smell my fear, Cadence reflected grimly. She decided then and there she wouldn’t just let them savor their kill. If she was going to die, she’d take as many of them with her as possible.

And then everything changed, as the curved blade of a sickle suddenly wrapped around the spear-wielder's throat from behind. Its eyes barely had time to go wide before the weapon pulled back with savage force, cutting through its neck in a single swift movement and a burst of blood.

The body fell to reveal a young woman, a couple years older than Cadence. At first Cadence mistook her for the girl she had saved earlier–she had the same brown hair and tan skin common to the heartlands. But this woman was taller, her hair fell in long, curly ringlets down past her shoulders, and under her leathers, she showed all the soft curves of a sword blade. The other girl, even for her attempts to protect herself, had seemed as helpless as a sheep set upon by a wolf, while this woman gave the impression of a weapon in motion as she moved. Her fine-featured face was set in a look of intense fury as she turned on the remaining gnolls.

The two outsiders were stunned for a moment longer than Cadence by the young hunter’s sudden appearance, and Cadence acted quickly. She took a pair of quick steps back and to the left, lifted her right arm, and released a savage bolt of electricity. A flash, a crash, and a yelp heralded the second gnoll’s death, along with a sudden breathless exhaustion from the ability’s high cost.

Apparently that display was enough for the remaining gnoll to take the better part of valor and turn tail. Cadence swore as it began to run through the trees and ran for her bow, but the brunette woman didn’t even bother to follow after the outsider. Instead, she lifted her free hand in a casual motion, and simply snapped her fingers. At first nothing seemed to happen, but the gnoll only made it a couple more steps before the ground abruptly gave out beneath it, dropping it down a perfectly circular hole.

Cadence blinked in surprise. She had seen a lot of interesting and powerful gifts in her life, but making a pit trap with a single motion was a new one. Still, she could hear the gnoll yelping and scrabbling at the sides of the pit.

The older girl’s upper lip lifted in a snarl. She snapped again–and the sounds of the gnoll's attempts at escape were abruptly cut off as the pit collapsed back in around it.

Only once that was done did she turn back to Cadence. Suddenly, the fierce glare relaxed from her face–which did little to soften her features. She still had cheek bones Cadence felt confident she could cut a finger on. But when one corner of her mouth lifted in a half-smile, Cadence was surprised to notice a charming dimple form in her cheeks.

“Well. You’re not who I was expecting when I came out here.”

Cadence couldn’t help a surprised blink. The older girl spoke with the refined accent of a born-and-raised city dweller, rather than the plainer tones of a village hunter she had expected. “Cadence,” she introduced herself. “I’m with the mad man I would assume is busy making a spectacle of himself back in town.”

The other girl’s lips parted in acknowledgement. “Alyssia Dennan. A pleasure.”

#

“What are you going to do with that?”

Cadence looked up at Alyssia, then back down at the blade she had taken from one of the fallen gnolls. It was an odd design, a twisted bone forming the handle and the curved back of the weapon, while the blade itself was an odd matte black glass, completely opaque. In construction, it was closer to an axe than the sword or knife it more closely resembled. She concentrated on it briefly, and felt a little pull in the back of her head as she used one of her wanderer abilities.

[Wanderer’s Knowledge] activated

Gnoll Raidsword - Imbued craft - Light weapon favored by gnoll raiders. Made from obsidian and ogre bones, granting it innate tier one potency.

“These blades are magical, somehow,” Cadence explained. “When this one cut me, it went through my armor like it was nothing.” She gestured with one hand to her side. The wound had been healed by the same potion she had used to restore her stamina and focus after her Soul Surge wore off, but her vest and shirt still remained torn.

“Interesting.” Alyssia’s tone implied that it wasn’t, but that she was trying to be polite. “Ready to go?”

After the fight, Cadence had taken a few minutes to circulate the site of the skirmish, gleaning her expended arrows and finally managing to free her hatchet. It turned out, Alyssia had been pursuing the same town girl that Cadence had saved. It was simple luck that had brought her around in time to save Cadence from the trio of raiders.

Cadence tucked the blade into her belt, opposite her hatchet, and adjusted her quiver so that it instead hung across her back, the bow and arrows sticking up above one shoulder. “Yep. Let’s go.”

The older girl led them away at a brisk pace, and Cadence had to lengthen her steps to keep up. But while Alyssia may have been nearly a foot taller than her, Cadence was used to keeping up with Storyteller, who towered even taller. Even after the fight, her stamina boon was enough to let her keep up.

“So what happened in town?” Cadence asked between breaths while they walked.

“They always have a lot of trouble with gnolls around here,” Alyssia explained, “but never anything like this. Not only did they have two ogres in the van, they were led by a witch.”

Cadence took a deep breath, pretending she knew what the older girl meant by “a witch.”

Alyssia’s tone was solemn but even as she continued to explain. “By the time the hunter chief managed to kill the witch, the rest of the pack had made it into town, with the ogres in the lead. Things got messy after that. Only their hunter chief had the gifts to fight the ogres head on, but he’s old, and was injured by the witch before he took her down.”

“What? Too big to drop down a pit?”

Alyssia smiled grimly. “I slowed them down, but not much more than that.” She gave Cadence a meaningful look. “Then your friend showed up. One of the ogres was dead in seconds, and he put the other on the back foot easily enough. Once the rest of us were freed up, we were able to clean up the gnolls easily enough. You were lucky enough to meet some of the quickest to flee.”

“Yeah, lucky me,” Cadence muttered.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that guy,” Alyssia observed. “He took on two ogres by himself, and it wasn’t even close. Who is he?”

Cadence shrugged. She thought for a second, but after the fight, she couldn’t quite recall the name Storyteller had given her. Instead, she asked, “Who are you?”

So far, Alyssia had kept up the pace even as they walked, but that question drew a moment’s pause from her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re not a hunter. I don’t even think you’re from Kellister,” Cadence said. “You weren’t upset enough about the attack for it to be your friends and neighbors dying. And you keep calling saying ‘them’ when you’re talking about the villagers and the hunters. Plus, you talk like you’re from the city, not a village.”

Alyssia looked over her shoulder at Cadence with an intense frown. Then, instead of answering, she lengthened her stride, forcing Cadence up to a jog to keep up with her.

#

By the time the two girls made it to Kellister, Cadence had managed to work herself breathless keeping up with Alyssia. Whatever gifts the older girl had, they clearly granted her a stamina boon too.

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The fight in the village was clearly over, but the work had only just begun. As they walked through the streets of the little village, Cadence was struck again at how similar it was to Felisen. The biggest difference was in the construction of many of the homes, which incorporated much more stone and brick than the wooden buildings common to Felisen. That was all that had saved many of them from the gnolls’ torches.

The streets were full of people responding to the aftermath of the attack with the hardened practicality of those who had spent their lives living away from the aegis of any of the great cities. Hard-eyed men and women in practical clothing, likely the laborers that lived in the town, cutting lumber and quarrying stone, were surveying the homes for damage and figuring repair needs. Others, dressed in more comfortable and casual clothing, offered Alyssia and Cadence small smiles and brief greetings as they tried to collect the town’s remaining food, supplies, goods, and children, so that they could begin the difficult job of figuring out how to keep the village alive over the next couple months.

It was fortunate, Cadence reflected, that the attack had come in summer. Within the next couple weeks, the farmers would be able to produce an early crop. No one would starve or freeze to death while Kellister recovered from the raid. Alyssia didn’t share where they were heading to, and Cadence didn’t bother to ask, too busy looking over the damaged town. It was all too easy to imagine Felisen in similar shape, and Cadence tried to ignore the uncomfortable wriggling in her guts at the thought.

In time, Cadence noticed that Alyssia was leading them towards the center of the town, which proved to be a large square of smooth paving stones built around an ornate well. There was a small crowd gathered in the square, divided into two clear groups. One was clustered near a large house on the edge of the square, fully intact and the largest building Cadence had seen in the little village. The other was gathered around the well itself, and Cadence recognized Storyteller in the middle of the crowd, at least a head taller than the villagers.

Once the adventurer noticed them, he turned to say something to a man next to him, then quickly negotiated through the press of townsfolk to make his way to them. “Cadence,” he greeted her. His eyes were still a serious, icy blue, and he still carried himself with the rigidity of the knight he was pretending to be. His eyes shifted to Alyssia. “Sir Toren Cifel. I hope my squire wasn’t too much of a burden during the raid.”

“Alyssia.” The older girl’s absent frown flickered briefly into something brighter. “And no need. By my count, she killed at least five of the scavengers, and distracted two others for me.”

“Truly?”

Cadence shrugged and tried not to look too pleased with herself. “They weren’t very smart.”

“Good to hear. Now then-ah. Perfect.”

Storyteller turned as a deep voice began to bawl out a series of orders into the crowd.

“Frederick, Ren, Elis, I want a thorough patrol through the woodline and a count of how many escaped. Anna, take half a dozen of these layabouts and find out what the Eblists need to get everyone back on their feet. Stoneworkers, with me, let’s see how many of these houses we can make livable by nightfall. The rest of you, you’re with Doren on corpse duty, I want these outsiders on a pyre by the time the sun is down.”

The crowd quickly dispersed, each led by at least one person in hunting leathers, clearly armed and moving with the surety and confidence battle-gifted. Kellister’s hunters. Soon, there were just a handful of men and a single woman left, all standing with an older man who Cadence immediately pegged as Ryme’s equivalent in the town, its chief hunter. He was a stout man, broad in the shoulders, the chest, and the gut, with a long gray beard. Despite the bandages wrapped around one arm and his head, he surveyed the bustling square with an unmistakable air of authority, and he still carried a thick, double-headed axe in one hand.

“Get started,” he told the stoneworkers around him. “I’ll join you shortly.” That said, the man stomped over to join Cadence, Storyteller, and Alyssia. “This your squire then?”

“Yes, this is Cadence. Cadence, this is Bernard, chief hunter of Kellister.”

Cadence nodded her head low enough for her shoulders to move with the motion. It was a gesture of respect she had seen the people in town make to her mother often enough, not as elaborate as a bow, but perfectly clear nonetheless. “Sir.”

“Little spit of a thing, isn’t she?”

“Maybe so, but she killed near half a dozen gnolls by herself,” Alyssia told him.

A pair of shaggy white eyebrows went up, and the old man gave her a second look. “That so? Good for you then. And my thanks again, Sir Toren.”

“I only did my duty. No thanks are needed.”

“Well enough then. I got to get to work, make sure nobody goes too cold tonight. What of you two now?”

“I think we’ll stick around for a few days,” Storyteller told him, to Cadence’s surprise. They hadn’t rested more than a night at any village since they left Felisen.

“Well, if that’s what you want, I certainly won’t argue. Dunno how nice of accommodations we’ll be able to provide, though.”

“Don’t worry about that. Argent knights are used to sleeping on the ground. A spare pallet would be plenty.”

Bernard’s eye glittered with something more genuinely respectful, and the hunter chief gave Storyteller the same deep nod Cadence had offered him. “Appreciate that, then.”

The man began to turn away, but Storyteller called out to him.

“I actually have a suspicion, if you don’t mind another moment’s attention.”

“Hmph? What’s that?”

“A raid pack of gnolls this large doesn’t just come out of nowhere,” Storyteller said. “If I had to guess, there’s somewhere nearby that they generally spawn in. Somewhere you need to patrol more often than others. Am I correct?”

The old man mused on that. “There’s the Cairn Glade,” he finally said.

“Sounds just right. Would you mind if I went to see this place?”

“Hmph. I see no problem with it, but I won’t have a spare body to guide you out there until late tomorrow, or the day after.”

“I can take them out there, Bernard,” Alyssia volunteered.

“You think so?”

“I know the way, and your people know the town better than me. I’d just get underfoot trying to help here.”

The stout old hunter chief considered for a moment, then nodded. “Well enough. Stay safe.”

#

Cadence was beginning to get grumpy. She and Storyteller had already been walking for hours before they reached Kellister, and it felt like she had burned an entire day’s worth of energy in the fights that followed, only to then end up practically having to jog after Alyssia on their trip back to town. But they had scarcely taken a moment to rest before they set out once again, bound for this Cairn Glade.

In the midst of all of it, Cadence felt like she hadn’t spoken in hours. Apparently squires of the Argent Order weren’t expected to be consulted when knights made decisions, so Cadence found herself simply following after Storyteller and their guide, unable to ask why this trip was so urgent, what was important about the Cairn Glade, or even why Storyteller had decided on this persona for Kellister when he had always been himself in Felisen.

Unoccupied by anything besides the steady rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other, Cadence found her mind drifting back to the fight with the gnolls. She was stunned by her own actions as she considered them, and didn’t know if she was more horrified at how close she had come to death or at how easily she had taken the raider’s lives. There hadn’t been any option, of course. It had all happened too fast. First she had saved that girl that was being chased, then she couldn’t turn her back on the archer once he saw them, then…

Then there were the other two. She hadn’t had to fight them. She had hidden herself successfully, and they were too inattentive to have noticed her. She could’ve let them go and slipped back to town easily enough. With her coordination still boosted, she likely could’ve even avoided the three that Alyssia was pursuing. Cadence didn’t doubt that whoever the older girl was, she could’ve handled them by herself, even three-on-one.

But she had let herself get caught up in her anger. Kellister was so similar to Felisen that it was all too easy to picture the gnolls rampaging through the streets of her home. Old Man Callahan’s mansion burning down. The Honeyed Pear a blackened ruin. Bodies thrown into the bonfire pit. Her mother…

Cadence had let her emotions control her, and she had almost died because of it. First the gnoll she had thought crippled nearly killed her with that lunge, then she had gotten surprised by the others, caught flat-footed and unarmed. It was her first fight without any help expected–no Ryme or Storyteller looking over her shoulder, ready to step in. And she had still made the wrong decision. If Alyssia hadn’t happened to follow that group of gnolls, they would’ve killed her, simple as that. It was a stupid decision.

But, as she thought back to the moment, hiding behind a tree like a frightened little girl while the two monsters passed her by, woodsmoke and blood and offal in her nose and the image of her home sharing Kellister’s fate in her mind… Deep down, Cadence knew that even if she went back to that moment, even knowing what would follow, she’d make the same decision again.

Gift of the Wanderer

Novice level

Experience: 28%

Explore new places and understand the heart of an adventurer to gain experience.

Cadence blinked in surprise as the message popped up. She had looked at her abilities constantly since she left Felisen, checking her experience every night, but it had never just opened by itself like that. It was normally trying new abilities that grew her gift of the echo, and seeing new things that grew her gift of the wanderer. In fact, she was quite sure that bit about “the heart of an adventurer” had never been there before. And the boost was significant–she had been at 19% before the fight.

Just one more thing she couldn’t ask Storyteller about until they had some time alone.

Cadence sighed heavily and, as if the sound had provoked her, Alyssia whirled around. Her glare was mostly for Storyteller, but the young woman had plenty to go around to Cadence too.

“Alright. We’re not taking another step until I find out who you two are.”