A very old villager sat alone in one corner of the house. He had gray hair, and faded, dirty Clerics's robes.
"Do you know him?" Nem said.
Rab shook his head.
But the old man smiled when he saw them.
"Good," he said. "I was worried I wouldn't find you."
"Who are you?" Nem said.
He said his name was Yob, and that he had come to the village just the day before.
"They're not very friendly to strangers here," he said.
“We noticed,” Nem said.
"Why are you wandering alone?" Rab said. "Was your village burned too?"
"I was banished from my village a long time ago," Yob said. "I've spent years living on my own."
"Years..." Nem said, horrified.
"Banished? I've never heard of that," Rab said.
The old man grimaced.
"Not surprising. People don't like to talk about it. But Clerics can do it, if they believe it's the right thing."
Rab nodded. They knew leaving the village was possible now, at least, but he felt sick at the idea of spending year after year alone in the world with no other villagers, no houses – nothing at all! It was too terrible to think about. His mind raced ahead and he imagined himself and Nem wandering homeless for years on end. It sounded like a nightmare. But if every village treated them like this, what choice would they have?
"But you," the old villager said to Rab. "I came this way hoping I would meet you."
"Me?"
“Well, not you in particular. But I knew someone was coming.”
Yob looked like he was deciding how much to say.
"I was banished from my own village for... becoming too friendly with some creatures of the night," he said.
"Who?" said Rab. "Ashmen can't talk. Or Bonewalkers. That really only leaves Witches or else..."
Yob nodded.
"The dark brothers, yes. The Umbrals."
"You can talk to them?" said Nem. She sounded interested and disgusted at the same time.
"A little," Yob said. "It took time and patience. And great caution. But I made myself useful to them."
"Useful," Rab said.
He wondered what Yob's village would have thought about that.
"Enough so that they came to me a few days ago, and let me know I should look for you near here."
"Why? What for?"
The old man shrugged.
"Understanding what they want is always hard. But they actually seemed... I guess worried is the best word."
"About me?" Rab said.
Yob laughed.
"No, that's not how they work. But there's something big happening. I wish I knew more."
"Maybe it's a good thing if they're the ones who are scared," Nem said.
"No, it's not like that. They told me that a Firethrall had come out from the Underworld and was destroying villages."
"Why do they care about that?"
"They told me they'd given a villager the power to destroy it. I guess that's you."
He looked at Rab like he was trying to figure out how one small villager and another even smaller one could do anything useful at all.
Feeling some kind of need to justify himself, Rab pulled out the sword.
Yob's eyes went wide when he watched Rab swing it around the room a couple of times.
“That’s… interesting,” he said.
"I can use it, but all I want to do is find a safe place for me and Nem to live."
"There's only one way to do that now."
Rab felt sick. He already knew what the answer was.
"Destroy the Firethrall?"
Yob nodded.
"Nowhere will be safe until then."
Then he made them tell him their whole story, and asked questions until Nem started to fall asleep.
Rab and the old man moved over to another corner of the house to give her some quiet.
"I can't fight a Firethrall," he whispered. "I can't do any of that again. Ashmen and Bonewalkers were bad enough."
It felt good to be able to say it to someone. He'd been pretending for Nem's benefit, but now he could finally tell the truth.
Yob just shook his head.
"Did you think being a hero was easy?" Yob said.
"I'm not a hero. Not at all."
"You're the guy with the sword."
"Nem thinks I'm afraid. And she's right," Rab whispered. "I've never been so afraid."
Yob nodded.
"That's the right way to feel. You should be afraid."
"But I'm not brave at all."
"Brave is what you do, not what you feel."
Rab really didn't think Yob was getting it.
"You fought to protect Nem, and yourself, right?" Yob said.
"That's the only reason I did it."
Yob nodded.
"That's good enough," he said. "That's all it takes."
"I'm just a villager!" Rab said. "I'm supposed to be a Smith!"
"Everybody is just somebody."
Rab shook his head.
"All I want is for us to be safe. For Nem to be safe," he said.
"Like I said, that's good enough."
It was nice to have someone to talk to who understood what was going on. But on the other hand Yob was also kind of annoying.
The next day, they were still just left in the house. But there was always someone outside the door, making sure they couldn't leave. Twice someone came and gave them food, but apart from that there was nothing to do.
By the end of the day Nem was just about ready to kick the door down and start yelling at their guards.
"We came here to help them!" she said. "And they don't even want to hear about it!"
Rab agreed.
"This village doesn't want to be saved," he said.
Yob pointed at the children running down the path outside.
"They don't get to decide," he said.
"So that's our problem now?" Nem said.
Yob shrugged.
"We know. They don't. So it's our problem."
"When the Firethrall is dead, what happens to us? Are we safe?" Nem said. She looked very serious.
"I think the village will change its mind about us. About you at least. You could live here."
"And you?" Rab said.
"There is work to do. I already know where I have to go next."
Rab didn't ask him where that was. He was really worried that the answer would mean he couldn't stay here with Nem.
It was getting late in the day when the Council finally came to the door.
Yob sighed.
"I thought they'd at least let us stay the night. These really aren't very friendly people."
Kan the Priest looked in at them.
"It's time for you to go," he said.
Three strong farmers and a Defender walked beside them on the way to the edge of the village.
"What do they think we're going to do?" Nem said. "They really need a crowd to throw out two kids and an old man?"
"It's a message," Yob said. "They're letting us know they mean it."
"Stupid," Nem said. Then she raised her voice. "They're letting us know they're stupid!"
Nobody paid any attention to her, though.
When they reached the end of the path, the farmers and Kan the Priest all stepped back.
"Go," said Kan. "You are banished. Leave us."
Yob turned and started walking away without saying a word.
Nem looked up at Rab. Rab looked at the villagers.
We're just kids! His eyes said.
But they stood with their arms folded, and waited. There would be no help from them.
"Come on," he said quietly, and put his hand on Nem's arm.
She glared at them one last time, then whirled around on one foot and stalked out of the village. Rab followed her towards the setting sun.
They set up their circle outside of the village.
Now there were three of them. That was better than two. Plus one of them was a grownup. Rab felt a little better about that. Nem looked less scared, too.
When it got dark, they sat together in the middle of the light, and watched the village. Yob reached into his robes and gave them some bread.
"I've been keeping as much food as I could," he said. "I had a feeling that I would be outside again."
Rab pointed up at the mountains.
"We can get to the Player house tomorrow, easily."
They had told Yob all about it. It seemed like the right place to go. They could be inside and safe.
But Yob shook his head.
"We're not going there," he said.
"It has iron doors!" Nem said.
"Maybe there are more villagers like us, or banished ones too," Rab said. "We can make a home for all of them."
Yob smiled.
"I like that you are still thinking about what you can do to help," he said. "But our battle is here."
Nem made a disgusted noise.
"To help them? They threw us out. They won't even listen."
"The have not seen what's coming," Yob said. "When they do, they will listen."
"You really think the Firethrall will attack here?" Nem said.
"It will," Yob said. "Until then we wait."
Nem looked at Rab.
He can wait, her look said, But you and I can make up our own minds about what we're going to do.
The next day it was raining.
They didn't move away the circle of torches. Even at noon, it was dark enough that mobs were still walking around like it was midnight.
The three of them were all soaking wet.
They ate a lunch of soggy bread. When Rab saw that Nem was shivering with the cold, he decided. He stood up and faced Yob.
"Nem can't do this," he said. "She's too young. I'm too young."
Yob sighed.
"If we don't stop the Firethrall here, how many more villages will it destroy? How many more young ones will be gone?"
"So that's it?" Nem said. Her teeth were chattering. "We don't matter now? Only everyone who is safe in their village matters?"
Yob looked at her gently.
"They're not safe. They just don't know they're in danger. You know better."
Rab was getting angry with Yob, though. How could two wet kids and an old man fight the Firethrall anyway? It was beyond stupid.
Nem stood up next to Rab.
"We still don't have to sit here and freeze to death. There's a warm place and a bed just over that way. A place where we can decide what to do."
"You already know what to do," Yob said.
"No," said Rab. "That's not good enough. Just because I can use a sword, that doesn't mean I can kill a Firethrall! Plus Nem can't even do that. Is she supposed to just watch, and then die after I do?"
Rab had decided. He owed nothing to Yob. Someone had to think about what was best for Nem.
"We're leaving," he said. "Once it's safe to walk to the Player home, we're going."
Yob stood up.
"No," he said. His voice was loud and hard.
They both stood still and stared at him. Suddenly he looked different. Before he had been a frail old man, but now his eyes shone with something hard and cold.
"You're past the point where you can turn away from this now."
Rab thought about just grabbing Nem's hand and starting to walk away, right then and there.
Yob pulled something out of his inventory and held it out.
It was armor. A helmet that was bright silver even in the darkness of the rainy day.
"Put this on," be said.
He pulled out leggings, and armored boots, and a strong plate-mail chest piece, and laid them all out on the ground.
Rab stared at it all, amazed. Every bit of it was enchanted in some way. The magic colors spun across it all.
He picked up the helmet, and he put it on. He couldn't resist trying. He'd never seen a villager wear one before. Nobody had.
Yob thumped on it with his fist. A shimmer of magic burst from under his hand.
"You'll be good against a lot of mobs with this on," he said.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Yob laughed at Rab's amazed expression.
"I didn't even know I could wear armor at all," Rab said.
"It was the Dark Ones. You might be surprised. I have a few things that will give us a chance," said Yob. "It looks like it's time to show them to you."
Nem watched the two of them silently, until she finally couldn't be quiet any more.
"So that's it?" she said. She spread her hands wide. "What about me? I'm little, and I can't swing a sword. I can't do anything."
"That's not true," Rab said. "We wouldn't have made it out of the swamp without you. We wouldn't have gotten through the iron door without you."
"You will keep the village children calm and ready to do as they are told," Yob said. "You know more than most adults now about what can happen."
Nem frowned.
Yob started pulling potion bottles out from his inventory. He had handfuls of them.
"Fire resistance," he said, "Slowness, Healing, here, take them."
"What about you?" Rab said.
"I have my own way. And my own supplies."
He finally told them his plan.
"I will rally the Defenders to open a path to the Firethrall," Yob said. "Rab will use the fire resistance on himself and the slowness on the Firethrall."
"You really want me to try to kill that thing?"
"It is what holds a mob band together. Once it is gone, they will be easy for the Defenders to defeat."
Rab was quiet, staring at the potion bottle in his hand.
"Put me on a roof," Nem said.
"What? No," Yob said. "You have your job."
"Give me some potions. Put me on a roof. I'll be out of the way of the mobs and I can throw them down wherever we need them."
"And if we fail?"
"I jump down. I grab everyone I can, and see if we can leave the village. We run."
She stood in front of Yob with her hands on her hips.
Rab spoke up.
"I'd feel better with Nem helping," he said. "She's saved us before. She's little but she thinks fast."
Yob gave her a hard look.
"There would be no help for you," he said.
"Same as ever," she said and shrugged. Then she held out her hand.
Yob started giving potions to her as well.
"Don't worry about wasting them," he said. "Use them when you need them."
"Because there's no tomorrow if we lose, right?" she said.
Rab went over to her, and gave her arm a squeeze.
"So we don't lose, I guess," he said.
His stomach felt sick with fear, but he smiled bravely for her.
It finally stopped raining near evening, but the first fires started as soon as the sun went down.
"There!" Nem gasped, and pointed.
Yob didn't wait. He jumped up and started running to the village.
"Hurry!" he yelled.
The villagers were all watching the smoke and flames from inside their houses. Nobody even tried to stop them.
They could see the mobs now. They were starting to fill the paths and surround the houses at the edge of the village.
"I will bring the Defenders!" Yob yelled, "Find the Firethrall! Slow it if you can!"
Then without another word he turned and headed away. Rab and Nem ran down the path toward the fires.
"Up there!" Nem said. She pointed to a house.
Rab grabbed her legs and heaved her up. She scrambled onto the roof and didn't even look back at him.
"I'll be watching!" her voice called back.
He pulled out the sword. There was nothing else for him to do now.
He walked down the path, and a crowd of Ashmen started stumbling towards him with their arms stretched out.
When the first one grabbed for him he stabbed it twice, and it flashed and disappeared.
The next one took hold of his arm, but he pulled away and slashed at it.
Then suddenly an arrow flew past him and knocked the next Ashman back along the path. Another arrow zipped past his shoulder and set the creature on fire. It ran away, burning.
Rab turned around and saw four Bonewalkers pounding down the path towards him,
Yob was farther down the path, holding a bow. He had another arrow ready, and it flew past Rab again, knocking one of the mobs back.
"What are you waiting for? Go!" Yob yelled.
Yob’s arrows flashed almost too fast to see. One after another, they were gone with a clatter of falling bones.
For a moment Rab thought that this might work after all. He turned and moved forward, slashing at the Ashmen coming at him.
One of the village’s Defenders was gone almost right away. It was surrounded by a crowd of mobs - there must have been dozens of them. A ball of flame from the Firethrall shot through them, setting mobs on fire along the way and crashing into the Defender. It flashed and was gone. That left three.
But now they knew which way to go.
"That way!" yelled Yob, pointing.
The last three Defenders began smashing their way through the crowd, and mobs flashed and disappeared in front of them. Rab followed behind them, stabbing and slashing whenever one got past them.
He wanted to laugh. They were cutting through them like butter!
He looked back at Yob again, but just then another crowd of Bonewalkers came around a corner, and swarmed themselves around the old villager.
Rab heard him yell. Mob after mob burst into flames as his arrows flew, but Yob was surrounded and mobs were hitting him from all sides.
Rab turned away from the Ashmen and started slashing his way towards Yob. One of them hit him right in the arm, and despite the armor he almost dropped the sword from the pain.
When the old man saw what was happening be yelled, "Don't help me! Kill the Firethrall! Do it!"
Rab turned back and started fighting forward again. It was a hard thing to do.
"Rab!" he heard Yob yell again.
When he looked back he couldn't see Yob at all in the crowd of mobs. But he heard his voice.
"Find the Deep Witch! Talk to the Deep Witch!"
Then there was a flash from inside the crowd of mobs, and he knew that Yob was gone.
But there was no time to worry about it.
Now it's just me and Nem again, he thought.
He looked up and saw that she was crouched on the roof of the next house, watching it all with a potion ready in her hand.
He started slashing his way through the mobs again. He could see the orange glow from the Firethrall. It wasn't far ahead.
He took out a slowness potion and threw it over the top of the crowd of mobs. He was just hoping for the best when he heard the bottle smash.
"Not far enough!" Nem yelled from the rooftop. "Three blocks more!"
Rab tried to take out another potion but now there were mobs on both sides of him. There was no time. He hacked at them both until they flashed and disappeared. He quickly drank a healing potion, and felt the warm glow spreading through him.
Then he grabbed and threw another slowness. When he heard the smash he looked up to Nem.
She shook her head.
"It moved! Two blocks to the right!"
Suddenly one of the Defenders flashed and disappeared and there were mobs crowding into the space it left.
Only two Defenders left.
He growled in frustration. They were so close! But there was no way to throw now. There were too many mobs coming at him at once!
He started fighting, trying to move them forward, helping the Defenders clear a path. When he looked up he couldn't see Nem any more. He moved forward slowly, and he could see the whirling glow of the Firethrall now.
Something flew through the air and smashed right on top of it. He knew it had to be Nem, throwing from the roof. The creature spat a bolt of flame back toward the roof, which exploded into fire. He heard a shriek from Nem, and saw her running across the roof with flames on her robes.
There was no time to help her. He was so close, and the Firethrall was slowed now. It wouldn't be able to fire again right away. He hoped Nem would remember the healing potions.
He drank another one for himself, and a fire resistance as well.
Then he threw himself into the crowd, hacking as hard as he could on all sides.
Forward, forward, he thought. I need to get to it now.
Then suddenly it was in front of him. He didn't even know how he'd managed to go so far. It shot flames, which hit him square in the chest from one block away.
It burned. He screamed. It would have killed him if he had not taken the potion.
Healing or attack?
He couldn't wait. He stabbed at the Firethrall. He sank his sword deep into its flames. It shrieked like an animal and moved backwards, away from him.
He took the moment to grab another healing potion. It was his last one. He drank it. He threw the bottle on the ground and ran forward.
Another slowness potion spun through the air and smashed against the creature.
So Nem is still going.
The thought made him feel stronger, and he charged ahead just as the Firethrall shot another gob of fire straight at him. It hit him right in the face, and only his helmet saved his eyes.
"Why?" he yelled. "Why are you burning villages?"
"Why would I tell a dead man anything?" it hissed back at him. He could feel the heat building up. It was going to shoot fire at him again.
He could barely see anything at all, but he knew where it was. He jumped forward and slashed as hard as he could. There was another shriek from the creature, and it backed away again, trying to get ready for another fireball. He was going to attack again when an Ashman crashed into him from the side, and knocked him over.
When he looked up one of the Defenders smashed it from behind, and another Ashman burst into fire when it stepped into the flames from the Firethrall.
"Attack the Firethrall!" he yelled at the Defender. "We have to kill it right now!"
Back home, Gru the Defender would sometimes obey simple orders, but he really didn't know if all golems worked the same way. They had listened to Yob though.
They turned around and started moving towards the Firethrall.
Rab jumped up, but he realized that his leg was hurt, and he had to limp. He heard Nem's shout of "Rab!" and turned to look.
A potion was heading towards him through the air. He reached out and caught it. It was more healing. He drank it and instantly felt better.
One Defender was trying to hit the Firethrall now, while the other one stayed back and took care of any mobs that got near them. But the creature was dodging the Defender's slow arms, moving back and forth faster than it could swing.
Rab jumped to the other side of the creature, trapping it between them. He stabbed once more just as the it shot flames that wrapped around him. The fire resistance was wearing off. He screamed at the heat, and he could smell his hair burning. But he stabbed again, while the Defender smashed it over and over with its huge iron arms.
Then suddenly there was a burst of light and short scream, and the Firethrall disappeared.
It was gone.
"You got it!" he heard Nem yell.
But there was no time to be happy. They were still surrounded by Ashmen and Bonewalkers.
Rab turned, getting ready to start fighting again. Except that the mobs weren't attacking. One or two still threw themselves at the Defenders, but it didn't take much before they were gone too. The others were wandering off in all directions.
Whatever had been holding them together in a group, it was over.
Rab looked up at Nem on the roof.
She held up a healing potion for him. He shook his head. He was good enough, for now.
The village had only lost a few houses to the fires, and it didn't look like they were spreading.
While the Defenders chased down the last mobs, Rab went over to the edge of the roof. Nem stood there, looking down at him. Her robe was burned and black on one side, but apart from that she seemed to be okay.
"You look terrible," she said to him.
He looked at his armor, and it was scorched from the flames. When he pulled off the helmet it stank like burned hair. He started to grin, but then he thought about Yob.
"Come on," he said, and held his arms up to help her down.
They went over to where Yob had fallen. His bow lay on the ground, shimmering with magic.
"Go on," Rab said. "I think he would have wanted you to have it."
She picked it up carefully, then looked surprised.
"It doesn't feel too bad," she said. She picked up one of the arrows and tried to fire it at a tree. It zipped high above the houses instead.
She stared at him in amazement.
“Do you think this is because of whatever the Umbrals did?”
He nodded.
"Probably. But like you said to me, you need to practice."
"I will," she said. "Can we go inside now?"
Nobody on the Council complained when they walked into the nearest house.
The villagers just stood and looked at them for a moment, then Kan the Priest stepped forward.
"Thank you," he said. "I don't know what we can do to thank you enough."
"But you're welcome to stay here," the Blacksmith said.
The other council members nodded.
The old farmer who was tending his wheat when they first came to the village said, "I don't know how you're doing the things you're doing boy, but you're both okay by me."
Whatever the Council had decided, it seemed like the old farmer's words made it official. The other villagers finally started smiling, and suddenly Rab and Nem were surrounded by people talking and asking them questions and offering them food.
It felt good, but Rab saw the way Nem was looking at him. She knew he wasn't going to stay.
"Yob told me about something I need to do," he said the next day, when they were sitting in the sun with their backs against the well.
He wanted to stay. Oh yes, he really did. The idea of taking off the armor and putting it in a chest seemed like the best thing in the world. The sword, too. But Yob had told him to find the Deep Witch.
Whatever that was.
There might be other villages in trouble. Out there somewhere. He didn’t imagine that he could somehow fight every mob in the land on his own, but somebody had to tell them. Like Yob had said, he knew. They didn’t. That made it his problem to make sure they found out.
Even if they decided not to listen.
"I want you to stay here, though," he said. "You can be safe here."
"While you're all alone?" Nem said.
"You're just too little," he said. "I'd like to have you with me, but it's not right."
She stood up.
"I can feel the change coming, you know. I'm not that much younger than you. I wouldn't be surprised if I was as tall as you in a few days."
It happened like that, of course. Kids would just pop up overnight and be nearly as tall as the grownups. She was probably even right about it.
He sighed. He really wouldn't mind waiting for a few days. A time to rest would be... better than good. Great, actually.
"Tell you what," he said. "You spend some time practicing with the bow, and I'll work on getting set up for a trip. We might as well be organized about it."
Nem looked surprised. She must have expected him to say no.
"Okay," she said and nodded eagerly. "I'll work hard at it."
The next day they spent some time trying to convince the adults to see if they could leave the village now. Not one of them wanted to try. They just frowned at the idea. So the day after that they rounded up some of the children to try the edge of the village game instead.
The results were shocking. When the children realized there was no more village border, Ran and Nem ended up having to chase them halfway across the nearest fields to keep them from running into the forest. Once they had finally rounded everyone up again, they took their news straight to the Council. Nobody looked very happy about it, but at least they immediately gave someone the job of keeping an eye on where the children went.
When the morning finally came for them to leave, the villagers all came out as far as the old edge of the village.
Nem almost looked like an adult now. Just like she had said, one morning when they woke up she was nearly as tall as Rab, and Lum the Blacksmith's armor had fit her perfectly. It wasn't enchanted, but it would definitely protect her.
"Thank you again," said Kan the Priest said gravely. "We owe you our lives."
Nem stared him in the eyes. She seemed to like it a lot that she didn't have to look up at the adults anymore.
"We don't know how many other villages were burned," she said. "But there may be more wandering villagers. If anyone comes looking for a new home, you can let them stay. That would be the all the thank yous we want."
Rab nodded, and the Council said they would do it.
"They're still not the friendliest people," Nem said when they were far out in the fields, heading west. "Do you think they'll really let any lost villagers stay?"
Rab shrugged.
"I spent some time talking to Old Wen the Farmer about it last night. He said yes. I think the Council is a little bit afraid of him. If they say no he'll give them a hard time."
Nem looked up at the distant trees.
"So how do we find the Deep Witch? And what do we do when we find her?"
"Same way we found the villages. We start walking. When we find her... I don't know. Yet."
She frowned, but nodded.
"Okay," she said. "Lead the way."