The mutated man stood in the weaver's doorway. His voice was harsh and low, and the arms that the villagers held onto ended in claw-like hands. He'd become somewhat more human-looking than when he'd been possessed and fought, but would still be called a monster anywhere he went. Something like a mole or boar. He said, "Thank you, miss Ruyo. I remember what you did, now. I've come to apologize for my actions."

"You weren't in control of yourself, were you? You, men, why are you still holding him?"

Sheepishly they let go, though they still looked ready to jump him.

"Not once the gnome took me. That was its name, or its kind. What I'm sorry for is that I didn't fight it hard enough. My family, we've had a way with spirits -- subtle ones, nothing like this. This one knew enough to threaten my relatives, if I didn't let it in."

"Relatives, plural?" said one of the men.

The mole-man paled and said, "Forget it." To Ruyo he said, "Can you forgive me?"

"I do. Is there any way I can help?"

His deep-set eyes glittered. "You can let me tend the shrine here. It's a reason for me to stay, since these people don't want me here but I've got no place to go."

Ruyo said to the men, "Would you throw him out of town, for sacrificing his body to protect his sister from being possessed?"

They just muttered and looked aside.

The transformed one said, "I can't stay with her, and be a constant reminder of what happened. And I want to find some meaning in this disaster. Let me do that by working for you."

Ruyo looked down. What meaning could she offer anyone? She did magic and tangible things, not principals and morals. She said, "I... I can't pay you much, yet. And there's a ritual involved and... prayer."

"I can help with the garden at Moira's place for now, and start one of my own. Stumpy the Mage offered to help clear a little land for me out by the pond; maybe I can dig." He showed off his hands. "As for the other things, I can think of worse fates."

The mole's self-appointed guards grumbled. One said to Ruyo, "Are you trying to make us keep him around?"

Ruyo sighed, looking back and forth between them and the lone man. Should she push the town to accept his monstrous presence, or risk having him banished when he just wanted to live quietly here?

She held out her hands. "I'd accept him working for me and I think you should, too, but it's not my village. You tell me what your rules are."

"Hmmph. At least you're not declaring yourself the new elder. There'll be talk about this, merchant-mage."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"That makes good sense." She asked the tusked man, "What's your name?"

"Miras," he said, bowing his head.

The escorts wandered off. The weaver woman said, "I knew you a little, Miras. Your family never did anything wrong to me. I'd better go speak with certain people before they work themselves up to do something stupid. If you'll excuse me, miss?"

Ruyo nodded and started to leave.

Miras stopped her outside. He said, "I'm not offering this out of pure gratitude, ma'am, although you saved me. I like to think I was a handsome man, before. If I serve as a priest, I don't want to be thrown away because someone more charismatic came along. Let me tell people about 'inner beauty' in your name, and encourage them to create art and other fine things and be kind to the malformed."

It sounded reasonable, and she saw no reason to spurn him. She stretched high and planted a kiss on his hairy cheek. "All right. We can work on the exact wording later. If they don't accept you here, we'll find something else." She stepped back and left him.

#

Ruyo returned to the shrine and was pleased to find the three hired men hanging around and not causing trouble. One was hammering stakes into the ground. Nusina's presence registered like a phantom hug, which she tried to return.

One of the men was tending a fire buried in dirt, which gave off much smoke. He said, "This is a charcoal pit. See what I'm doing, choking the fire? The wood beneath will be blackened and refined to burn hotter afterward. Hot enough to work iron."

Ruyo studied it, coughed, and had to be nudged upwind. Blazing air rippled up from the covered pit. The column of smoke spoiled whatever secrecy she had left.

"A wagon passed this way from the west. From Brotherhood. Seemed like traders, but the driver stopped to leave a letter."

Ruyo took a little scroll from him. A speck of wax hinted that the men had broken a seal on it without telling her. The note said, The Witch Hunters know of you, and mentioned your roof.

Ruyo shivered, even next to the flame. "Thanks for showing me. Excuse me." She ran back into the cave.

Nusina zoomed into view. "Are you all right, milady?"

Ruyo showed her.

"Who are they?" the spirit asked.

"Men like that monk, trained to kill monsters and evil wizards. They're heroes, really. Not people you want targeting you." She looked up at the stone ceiling. "I like to think this place is secure, but a few of those magic chisels can chew through a rocky hillside as easily as a quarry. If the Hunters are clever enough they probably found a way to do it quietly."

Nusina gave a bubbling sigh. "I'll reset the timer on that 'one week where nobody attacks you' rule. But you've got allies coming, people who'll pray here."

"But assassins! Not just a robber gang!"

"If they're planning to dig to avoid the many fearsome traps in the entryway" -- which meant a lock and a noisy tripwire -- then they're still assaulting you where you're most powerful. Really smart killers would catch you next time you're on the road without me."

Ruyo groaned. "So now, any time I leave home, that could be when they strike."

"Could be. How powerful are they?"

"I've only seen a little demonstration where they were punching bricks and jumping with gusts of wind."

"Then they likely haven't got real practice at fighting spirits, elementals, or especially gods."

"And I'm not experienced with hit squads. What can we do?" Ruyo paced. "We need to go to them. To Brotherhood."

"That doesn't sound like a favorable battleground."

"And they won't expect it. We must have an ally there, somebody who's sympathetic, or a random trader wouldn't have found out about this."

"Right; random traders never find anything important on their own."

Ruyo snorted.

Nusina drifted near the ceiling. "About defendng the shrine. One option is to put a thick layer of ice on the ceiling and freeze part of the stone, to interfere with earth-magic digging tools. That will slow intruders down."

"Long-term we need something better."

"With enough power, you can do it. Do you want me along for this trip, or guarding this place?"

"I want everyone."