Asema, Saise, Vekrem and I traveled for two more days, using the dirt-strewn animal trails as a guide instead of an actual path, not trusting the “safety” it would bring, lest bandits attack us in our weakened state.

  Vekrem, by the conclusion of the second day, had all but recovered, his arms returning to their natural shade of pale. However, most surprising to me was the sudden change in Asema and Saise’s relationship. Our near death experience with the spriggans had seemingly caused a change of heart in them both. While I would not describe them as friends by any means, they no longer acted with rash animosity towards each other, and the group dynamic was more in sync than ever before.

  And so it was that our little band found itself staring out at the silver gleam of dusk shining on a western sky. Asema, who’d taken to traveling marginally ahead of the group as lookout, called back to us with an air of excitement in her voice.

  “It’s a town!” she said, not able to keep the thrill out of her tone.

  There was a familiar twinge in my back, and my stomach growled fiercely. All we’d had to eat for the last day was dried mushrooms after we’d had too many unsuccessful hunting attempts. With that in mind, I found myself smiling at the prospect of a soft bed and a warm meal.

  Vekrem prodded forward, stepping close to the lip at the cliff’s edge. “We’re here. This is Mossguard, The Last Bastion.”

  Asema scoffed outright, throwing her hair back out of her face.

  “A fool’s name,” she said. “One offered to make itself sound more important than it is.”

  However, seeing it for myself, I couldn’t agree with Asema’s sentiments. The town was large, and many buildings were made from gray stone, which created a perimeter that encircled the town on all sides. Inside the circle of rock, I could make out distinct buildings ranging from that of a small cottage all the way to a large garrison. There was a certain busy bustling of the people who were the size of one of my fingers from this distance. Mossguard itself was atop a hill and further away, down a trail leading off to the horizon, was the entrance to another forest. Unlike the trees on the trail we followed, with their lush green leaves, those woods seemed… wrong. Gnarled and broken; diseased, with the pestilence one would expect of a graveyard. Seeing Mossguard and those forests in contrast, it made the dullness of the gray stone seem as gleaming white marble in comparison.

  Vekrem broke my concentration as he said, “This is our next challenge. Perhaps the toughest one yet.”

  “Challenge?” I replied. “What’s the challenge in this? Seems like an easy stroll from here; especially compared to what we just went through. For fuck’s sake, I could use some food, a bath, and a goddamn bed. And do you think they’ll have nicotine?”

  Saise spat on the ground. “Lycan control Mossguard. Led by a relentless killer named Lucretia Redfang. That woman—she is savagery made flesh. An artist in the carving of flesh. Brilliant in mind, body, and spirit.”

  Dragon roared approval in my mind, and I felt his eager will to meet this lycan woman.

  “You sound as if you admire her?” I asked.

  “I do, in a way,” Saise replied, but then added in a stoic voice as she turned her head to examine the ground. “But I also hate her, and fear her… to my shame. She’s killed many of my kind. A true monster. I’ve studied the way she wields her cruel blade. Curved like the waning moon. When she swings it, one cannot help but be in awe of its grace and power.”

  I tapped my foot on the ground, kicking up dust. “And you think she’ll be a problem?”

  Vekrem answered in Saise’s stead. “Unclear. I suspect we’ll need to keep our true motive a secret. The lycan regard themselves as the true rulers of Selea, and Lucretia is no different. If they find our true goal, they’ll seek to control the cure themselves. It is an affliction that somehow does not affect them as it does all others. Yet that will not stop them from claiming what they believe is theirs by right.”

  Asema ground her teeth, balling his fist next to her side. “We won’t let them,” she growled. “I won’t let them.”

  “We won’t,” Vekrem assured her. “I promise. I’ll do everything I can to ensure it. This cure belongs to everyone without restriction.”

  Asema looked mistrustfully at Vekrem for a moment, but relented, nodding to his words of affirmation.

  I held my hand to my mouth, coughing to draw everyone’s attention. “We’ll then, it seems we have a plan. Go into town, make ourselves known, but lie about our true purpose. Easy enough, I’ve quite the silver tongue.

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  “… Liar,” Dragon mused

  “What are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s meet this Lucretia. I’m excited to finally meet a werewolf—I mean, lycan.”

  Asema scoffed, but it was Saise who spoke first. “You shouldn’t wish for things you don’t understand.” She glanced at Vekrem. “It can end up burning you.”

  ***

  Our group reached the gate of Mossguard just as the last vestige of light disappeared over a nearby mountainside. A line of humans, hybrids, and carts drawn by pack animals greeted us at the entrance.

  The line moved slowly, and it was the better part of an hour before we made any headway. I’d asked about cutting through, but Vekrem said that in lycan culture, even the smallest of offenses carries strict punishments. Best to just wait.

  I sat on the ground, rolling my ankle from side to side, and wishing to kick off my boots to let my feet breathe fresh air when a guard, dressed in iron mail armor, kicked my leg as he walked by.

  “No loitering, human,” the guard said. “Where is your master?”

  I stood, craning my neck to look up at the face of a brown-furred lycan. He had a helmet, which broke off, allowing his snout to poke through, and much of his fur was hidden behind that armor. He carried a pike at his side, which he gripped at the ready.

  Vekrem stepped between us. “He is mine, along with that one there—” He pointed at Asema, who turned her head from him. Chuckling to himself, he continued, “Sorry if my human has caused an issue. Always been rowdy, that one.”

  “Wait…” the guard replied, peering between the three of us. Then he noticed Saise, who was doing her best to remain out of sight, hidden behind a nearby cartwheel. “Is she with you?”

  Vekrem turned to look at her, but turned back just as quickly. “The chitik?” he asked. “No, just myself and the two humans, I’m afraid.”

  The lycan clicked his tongue. “Is that so? Well, it just so happens that we have been told to be on the lookout for a band that you four fit perfectly.”

  “As I said, it’s just the three of us—”

  The guard reached out, grabbing Vekrem by the collar. “Liar!” he whistled. “Need some help here. Grab the chitik too. The red one—over there.”

  I gripped my knife as a dozen guards descended on us like locusts. The rest of the various people in the line dispersed just as quickly as the guards charged, leaving us without much to fall back on. Quickly, we were surrounded on all sides, their spears and pikes lowered towards us with killing intent.

  Saise growled as she spun her deadly chain weapon, and Asema, still holding that mace, looked to be ready to bash in some heads.

  Vekrem held up his hands and spoke in a voice loud enough for all to hear.

  “Wait!” he yelled. “We’ll go with you. No need for such violence.”

  The lycan guard laughed. “You don’t have much of a choice.” He shoved Vekrem next to me, leveling his own weapon downwards. “On you go.”

  “Where?” Vekrem asked, prompting with his hands for Asema and Saise to lower their weapons.

  “To see the commander, of course.”

  Vekrem sighed. “Oh, good,” he said sarcastically. “Just the person we wanted to meet.”

  The lycan guard laughed harder. “You wanted to meet the commander? Got a death-wish? Go on now, provisions and weapons to the floor.”

  Asema scoffed. “Not a chance—”

  A nearby lycan guard, young and inexperienced, from the way he handled his weapon, nervously charged her, spear pointed towards her stomach.

  Unsurprised, Asema sidestepped the weapon and hit the lycan in the stomach with her mace. A metallic clang rang through the air as his body flew away from her, sliding on the ground a few paces away.

  The rest of the guards pointed their weapons towards her, but I hadn’t even noticed as Vekrem placed himself in front of her, as if he would shield her with his body.

  “Enough,” he said in a breathless panic. “… Enough.”

  Asema quivered in rage, but Vekrem placed his hand on her weapon, forcing it towards the ground where she let go and it clattered loudly in the dirt.

  The original guard asked in a loud voice meant to carry. “That boy alright?”

  Another guard returned his question, answering, “He’s fine. A little bruised, but he’ll be alright. The bitch held back.”

  Asema balled her hand into a fist. “Who’re you calling a bitch—”

  Vekrem pulled his hand from his pocket, blowing a white powder in her face. Curiously, she brushed at her face, taking a small step away.

  “What are you—” Asema fell backwards, and Vekrem caught her, lowering her body to the ground.

  “You told me not to push myself, lest I get hurt,” he said. “And now I’m telling you the same. Rest and I’ll take care of this.”

  Asema stared daggers up at him, gripping his shoulder with a tightness that dug into his skin. He ignored the pain until her hand went limp as she passed out.

  “Vekrem, what did you do?” I asked.

  “What I had too,” Vekrem replied. “Only what I had too.”

  I turned to notice a guard's pike leveled at my face.

  “Drop the dagger,” he said.

  Realizing I’d never discarded my own weapon, I tossed it into the pile with the rest of our provisions. With a single look from Vekrem, Saise also threw hers in as well.

  The guards eased, and a few grabbed each of us, pushing us together and forcing us to walk as the rest of the guards gathered our things.

  “Quite the show newcomers,” the lycan guard said, keeping lock-stepped to my right. “I was just thinking it was getting boring around here. I like you lot. The names Derion, a Captain of the Guard of Mossguard.”