The morning passed uneventfully as Larkin continued down the trail. He passed a couple more villagers but didn’t stop. Though he did wave to the excited children who tended to greet his arrival with whooping shouts.

  The constant walking was pretty monotonous, if he was being honest. But he didn’t get any feeling of aches and pains in his body at all. And thanks to that he was feeling pretty content.

  The ground was nice and flat, the sun was out, and the occasional thicket of trees were sparse enough that Larkin only had to keep half an eye out for any more ambushes.

  It was around midday when the terrain started to change again. He paused as the trail took a sudden jackknife turn to the left, clearly going around some marshy ground ahead of him. Peering into the distance the trail went, he could see another small collection of houses, but it was far enough away that he decided to settle down by the fens and grab a quick lunch.

  The slow-cooked monster meat was still delicious, the jerky-like quality adding a different nuance to the explosion of flavour. It definitely wasn’t as good as when it was fresh, but sure as heck beat a granola bar.

  Finishing up the meal, Larkin stared out across the marshy land for a few minutes. There was a gentle breeze blowing his way, bringing with it a gentle earthy smell. Even though he was on the trail and could see a village nearby, he had a strange sense of remoteness.

  Seeing some kind of small furry creature darting out of the muddy reeds, he found a smile coming to his place. He’s been feeling like this pretty much even since he came to Systemia.

  I’ve never been outside the city before, he thought. Maybe Earth has places like this too.

  Minus the monsters, hopefully.

  Climbing effortlessly to his feet, and very much enjoying the ease of that motion, he swung his pack around his shoulders and headed over to the village.

  As he approached, he saw that it was set a little away from the marsh, about as far away as it was from a small wood further north. There were narrow strips of farmland on either side of the trial, though Larkin didn’t see anyone at work on them.

  The villages all instead seemed to be clustered in the middle of the settlement, which certainly piqued Larkin’s interest.

  Trouble? The thought wore away at his relaxed mood.

  He heard snatches of conversation even from over a hundred metres away. The people weren’t talking quietly, but he could all tell that his hearing had improved immensely since getting the Fighter Class.

  “... can’t go on like this.” He heard a woman say, even as a man said something like “letting the Guild know.”

  The similarity between his meeting with Horg occurred to Larkin, and he was smiling in faint amusement at the comparison as the group of villagers noticed his presence and turned towards him. The expressions they sent his way were not any kind of friendly, but he kept his smile on his face.

  “I heard something about the Guild.” He called out. “Anything I could help with?”

  He saw them take in his outfit, their gazes perhaps lingering on his sword. And then a couple of them turned to each other and spoke in the same hushed whispers as before.

  “...too dangerous for a child.” He heard one say.

  “What’s to say that he’s that young?” Another muttered.

  But it was an older woman who responded to Larkin, after giving both of the other two speakers an irritated look.

  “Thank you for your offer, traveller.” The woman was dressed no differently than the others, but as soon as she spoke the others clearly deferred to her. “We think that there’s a monster out in the fens.”

  She gestured to the wetlands that Larkin had previously admired, but her words caused one of the other women to speak up indignantly.

  “We know there’s a monster out there, Helia. And it’s not afraid to come into our village either.”

  The woman quelled under Helia’s steady gaze before the villager turned back to Larkin.

  “Myra has the truth of it, I’m afraid.” She conceded. “Something is out there.” Helia hesitated, her steady face showing a flicker of real anguish. “And it’s hunting our children.”

  The story came out then, mostly from Helia but with occasional outbursts from the other villagers.

  The first boy had gone missing three days before, but it wasn’t the time they’d wandered off so it was only when they hadn’t returned by nightfall that the village had become concerned.

  An increasingly desperate search hadn’t found any trace of them. And then, the day after, one of the girls of the village hadn’t come home after going to collect wildflowers from the marsh. Helia had instructed all of the children to stay inside their houses after that, and the concerned families had been sure to comply.

  But then, this morning, they had realised that a second boy had vanished from their cottage in the middle of the night. He’d apparently left his home on his own accord, but searchers had found residue of a sticky sap-like substance outside his house.

  Leading to the marshland.

  “Something’s there.” Helia repeated, and Larkin nodded silently.

  Must be a monster, he thought; his good mood was now thoroughly soured.

  He glanced in the direction of the fens.

  “Do you have any idea where it might be hiding in there?” He asked, taking in how far the marshland stretched over the horizon.

  Helia frowned at him.

  “A monster isn’t something that we should mess with.” She said, sounding torn between concern for the children and not wanting to send some stranger to their death.

  Larkin gave her what he hoped was a confident smile.

  “It won’t be the first monster I’ve killed.” He assured her. “If I can find it.” He pointedly added.

  Helia and the others hesitated at that. Until a teenaged boy who hadn’t spoken before stepped forward.

  “Reckon I could follow its trail.” He told Larkin. “That sticky crap is still there.”

  The villagers made a collective noise, one of the women making a loud harrumphing cry.

  “Starn, you don’t need to…” Helia began to say, only for the boy to shake his head and speak over her.

  “I know Byr is probably dead.” He told her, a slight crack in his voice as he said that. “But I got to know for sure. For ma and pa, too.”

  There weren’t any more objections after that statement, just a lot of helpless stares as Larkin followed Starn towards the fen.

  He kept expecting someone to actually tell him to get lost, but it seemed that random Classbearers wandering into their village wasn’t a prosperous idea.

  That or they’re just really desperate.

  “There’s the stuff.” The boy told him, pointing to some pale goo hanging thickly on a bush.

  Larkin knelt down to look at the stuff; it was a thick, off white substance that he reckoned would cling to his fingers as bad as glue if he were unwise enough to touch it. The thought of how the monster would use it to capture children was impossible to get out of his head.

  “Okay, let’s go.” He told Starn, coming to his feet.

  He half-expected the other boy to object. But, like the rest of the villagers, the other boy - who was probably only a year or two younger than him, he realised - just nodded and led the way.

  Walking through the marshland proper was deeply unpleasant. Larkin kept sticking his feet into hidden pits of cold water, even with Star pointing out where to walk. It took a modicum of effort to extract his feet, and he felt that he would have been exhausted after going a dozen feet if not for the extra strength and endurance of his Fighter Class.

  The earthy aromas that he’d admired from afar now turned into a bitter, almost sulphuric stench that only grew as they pushed further into the fens. And the flies… Well, Larkin eventually gave up on flapping his hands at them.

  Definitely happy for that Strengthened Immunity right now, he thought.

  Larkin came to a stop as Starn froze ahead of him.

  “What is it?” He hissed after a long moment.

  The boy pointed without turning his head.

  “I think the monster’s nest is there.”

  Following the finger, Larkin only saw a slightly raised patch of soggy bush and weed. But, looking closer, he thought that perhaps the shadows beneath the weeds might be an opening.

  “Could be down there.” He grunted, cursing himself for not being prepared.

  But that caused Starn to turn and reach into a pocket.

  “I’ve got a lightstone, here.” The boy said, passing something over to him.

  Larkin took the object and peered curiously down at it. On first impression it was a roughly rectangular chuck of rock, with various lighter stones embedded into it. But he found a slight depression which he realised was a trigger.

  Pressing it made all the paler stones light up. It wasn’t exactly a torch, and the light was barely noticeable in the daylight, but it would certainly be better than going into a cave with nothing.

  “Thanks.” He told the boy. “Keep an eye out in case it tries to run.”

  With those confident words, Larkin headed over to the lair. The lightstone fit snugly into his left hand, and he kept his right on the hilt of his shortsword.

  The shadow he’d spotted was indeed an entrance. And the opening looked just as dark and uninviting as you’d expect.

  After a moment’s thought, Larkin drew his sword. The cave was not a helpful height for him; he’d have to walk bent-backed and didn’t want to be struggling to unsheath his weapon if he was rushed by a monster.

  And then Larkin stepped into the cave, raising his left arm to illuminate his path.

  The lightstone did a better job that he thought it would, bathing his surroundings in pale light. Larkin was confident that nothing would sneak past him in this tight space.

  Which was something, at least. It was a tight squeeze as he started to make his way down it.

  The tunnel turned haphazardly several times, and then Larkin heard an odd chirping noise from up ahead.

  And a relieved grin came to his face as he suddenly realised how easy this was going to be. The monster was trapped in here, and the fact that it only hunted children showed it wasn’t a fearsome beast of the sort he’d already killed.

  This will be embarrassingly easy, he thought. And an anticipatory laugh came bursting from his lips. Abandoning his earlier craven caution he hurried ahead.

  The cave finally widened as Larkin got to his goal. He glanced around at the three bundles of thick goo off to the walls at the edge of the light from the stone. But then he looked at the puny monster that quailed at the sight of him.

  I don’t even need a weapon for a job this easy, he thought, and there was a wet splash as he dropped the weapon and hurried forward.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  It’s such a pathetic looking thing, he thought, as it seemed to rally itself and start hesitatingly moving towards him. Such a weakling was no threat to him.

  Why, I should let it have the first attack just to make things fair…

  A sudden jolt went through Larkin, and he cursed as he realised where he was.

  The monster was hovering on large, mosquito-like, wings, but seemed all long, scaly body; except for the giant pincers at its jaw. The ones that were about to close around his face.

  Larkin jerked his body backwards, feeling something cut through his left check as the jaws snapped over where he’d just been standing.

  As he staggered away, he realised the damned thing was singing. A chattering noise that set his haunches on edge, especially when he realised how stupidly confident he’d been feeling a moment ago.

  That must be how it got the second boy to come out of his house, he reasoned, even as he was scrambling backwards. At least as far as he could in the confined space.

  He wanted to find his damn sword, but the insect monster didn’t give him the chance to look around for it. Seemingly aware that its disarming song was no longer working, it gave a piercing shriek as it coiled its body together and then shot towards Larkin.

  He spun to his left, managing to again avoid the snapping jaws, but the rest of its serpentine body crashed into him and he fell to the marshy floor.

  The monster’s body crashed on top of him and the lightstone was sent flying, plunging the caves into darkness. He could feel his Fighter Class instincts demand that he let them take the reins.

  It would be easy, he thought, but only briefly. And then he recalled the horrible sensation of having his body controlled without his say-so.

  “Fuck off!” He growled, talking to both the insidious temptation and the monster.

  Relying instead on the knowledge that the Fighter Class had already given him, as well as the greater strength, he bucked upwards with his waist - allowing him to shove most of the monster’s weight just as those huge damn jaws descended towards him.

  He managed to catch the things with his right forearm, grimacing as they dug deep and the monster sprayed his face with saliva. Its teeth were only inches from his face. His left fist crashed into the monster’s head, but given his position he wasn’t going to make much of an impact.

  The monster made a hiss of anger, but didn’t seem particularly put out. And didn’t let go of its grip.

  It then pushed with its long body to crash on top of Larkin again, allowing its jaws to move closer to him. He searched blindly on the ground with his left hand, hoping to find the sword, or even just a heavy rock, but came up only with cold water.

  The monster gave a hiss of triumph as it pushed Larkin’s arm right against his chest and its jaws opened wide enough to capture his head.

  He could feel his Fighter Class again raising a clamour, and Larkin could practically hear its siren words. You’ll die if you don’t give up control, alone in his monster’s den…

  But, he thought back, I’ll die as myself!

  And then, without attempting to second guess the impulse, Larkin’s left hand struck deep into the thing’s maw. Reaching as far as he could, his grasping fingers found purchase on something and then he was grunting as he yanked on it as hard as he could.

  He cursed as the thing’s teeth closed tightly around his wrist, but wrestled his hand out of the things mouth just as the monster gave a gurgling noise and began to writhe erratically.

  Larkin didn’t know what he’d done, but the monster was clearly in paroxysms of agony as he scrambled backwards. His right hand twisted over something hard - the lightstone!

  Raising its light, he gazed around the cave and suddenly saw something with a slight glimmer sticking out of the marshy ground.

  The sword!

  He dived over to get it, switching the lightstone to his left hand as he turned back to the monster. It was still arching its body in pain, but he wasn’t going to allow it to recover.

  His sword pierced the creature’s scales as he thrust into it, and then again, and then again. The monster gave a choking scream as Larkin kept stabbing his blade in and out. And continued to do so long after it had stopped moving.

  Breathing heavily, Larkin finally stepped away from the monster’s corpse. And then he took a very long breath.

  That little shit almost killed me.

  The thought was sobering, and Larkin thought that he’d be having a complete meltdown if not for his Calm Mind Skill.

  The same Skill, he thought, that was probably responsible for him being able to shake off that magically induced overconfidence.

  He looked around the cavern again, and when he saw the three bodies in their coffins of that horrible goo, he absolutely knew that without his Calm Mind Skill he’d have been throwing up everywhere.

  He still sort of wished that he could.

  He’d already known that the village children were likely dead, but seeing their lifeless bodies was still a blow. All three of them were so small; the girl was the oldest and she couldn’t have been older than eight years.

  It also wasn’t immediately obvious how they’d died. Clearly the monster hadn’t eaten them, nor did it look like it had killed them with those fearsome mandibles.

  The idea that the three of them had been wrapped up in that silky prison and then left to suffocate would, he was sure, came back to haunt him later on.

  Larkin was turning to take the bad news back to Starn when he heard a wet cracking noise.

  Spinning around, it took him a terrible moment to realise what he was seeing. The sound was coming from the body of one of the boys. As he got closer, Larkin saw that the boy’s little stomach was expanding; the goo cracking as something struggled to free itself from within.

  Larkin felt an overwhelming sense of horror as he watched the scene. The monster had used the children to grow its brood!

  With a disgusting pop, the boy’s torso burst open and a stubby bug started peering out. Larkin took a breath as he stepped towards it even as it started gargling.

  It was kind of cute, though…

  Larkin roughly crashed that thought, much as he grabbed hold of the monster spawn and crushed its head between his fingers. There was a brief spasm beneath his hands but then it passed and he let the mess drop to the floor.

  He peered down at the boy’s body, forcing himself to take in the way it was splayed open. He examined it carefully, but there was no sign of any further damn spawn hiding within. He then stared at the other two bodies, but they showed no sign of movement.

  Three days since the boy was taken, he thought. So the others haven’t hatched yet.

  Larkin felt dirty just having that thought, but he swallowed the bile that had risen to the back of his throat and made his way out of the cave.

  Emerging into the daylight felt disorienting after what he’d seen. And, despite his Calm Mind Skill, Larkin had to pause for a moment and take several deep breaths.

  He became aware of Starn making his way over to him, and for a moment wanted to do nothing other than flee from the boy. From the whole village and the terrible knowledge of what had happened.

  But no, he knew that couldn't do that. The innocent people here, and those poor children, didn’t deserve that.

  Instead he walked fully out of the cave, meeting the boy and giving him the news before he had to ask.

  “They’re all dead. I’m so sorry.” The words hung in the air, dreadful in their impact and inadequacy.

  He saw Starn’s expression turn in a handful of seconds through horrific loss, to a numbed acceptance, and he then gave a nod.

  “And the monster?” He asked, his voice dull.

  Larkin could practically see the boy’s thoughts going to his parents, to the conversation he was imagining.

  “Dead.” He replied, unable to hide his vicious satisfaction. “It won’t hurt anyone else.”

  Larkin paused, staring at the boy. He’d originally thought to send the boy back to the village to tell the others and get help. The bodies would need to be returned to their families, after all.

  But now he realised that he couldn’t do that to the kid.

  “Come on.” He instead said. “Let’s go back.”

  Larkin walked past the boy, belatedly sheathing his weapon. The blade was smeared with both the monster’s ichorous fluids and the marshy waters, but he would deal with that later.

  One problem at a time.

  He didn’t say a word to the boy as they returned to the village, nor did he allow himself to complain when his boots got filled with water, or when gnats started buzzing near the cut on his face - not even in the privacy of his head.

  The villagers saw the pair of them emerge from the swamp, and a crowd had gathered by the time they reached the cottages.

  And Larkin realised that he didn’t have to say anything, as the faces all fell. A glance at Starn showed that he conveyed all the necessary information in his body language.

  Still, Larkin found Helia in the centre of the crowd and forced himself to walk towards him. The words still need to be said.

  “The children are dead.”

  The sudden sound of explosive grief from the crowd showed how much false hope they’d been desperately clinging to. Helia flinched, her hands tightening on the arm of the older man next to her. But her eyes remained on Larkin’s.

  “The monster is dead too.” He told her, getting a short nod.

  He then watched as the crowd converged on certain people within it, those deserving of a particular degree of grief. Starn was ushered towards a blank-faced face man and a haunted woman, and there two other knots receiving heartfelt, genuine, and entirely insufficient support.

  Larkin reached out and put a hand to stop Helia when she looked to move towards one of those family groups.

  “The bodies will need to be retrieved.” he said to her, lowering her voice. “And… they should be burned.”

  He wondered if he’d need to explain the whole nightmare to her, but instead her face slowly took on an understanding that was terrible enough in its own way.

  She gave him a shaky nod, clearly steeling herself. And soon Larkin was walking at the head of a large group of the villagers, with only the children and few older folk to mind them left behind.

  Well, not entirely at the head. Starn was guiding the way, as Larkin knew he’d have no chance of finding the lair on his own.

  When they reached the little cave, a couple of the villagers insisted on going inside. They emerged shortly later, heaving out their guts and shaking uncontrollably. So Larkin retrieved the tiny bodies, wrapping them in blankets that the villagers had brought.

  He didn’t begrudge the villagers his task, though. Instead he found himself contemplating how the Calm Mind Skill was changing him.

  Aren’t shock and grief a part of what it means to be human? He thought. If I can’t feel that, what will that do to me?

  To his surprise, Helia insisted on him bringing out the bodies of the monsters too. He’d have been happy to have left them there, but he got an idea of why after he’d brought out the broken remains of the horror that had emerged from the little boy.

  He’d been aware of some low-level arguments against burning the bodies, but as soon as the villagers saw what he was holding the dissent withered away.

  It was a silent group that returned to the village.

  Larkin left them to it as they started gathering firewood and speaking in the terribly subdued voices that seemed appropriate for this sort of occasion. He instead did his best to wash the worst of the filth from his blade, as he sat off to one side.

  He also washed out the bite wound on his arm, where the wretched monster had bit him. The bleeding had stopped awhile ago, but he was sure that any doctor would have been horrified at the state it was in.

  Really glad of that Strengthened Immunity, he thought as he cleaned the worst of the muck away from the wound.

  It was approaching dusk when all the preparations were complete. And so Larkin watched from a distance as an elderly man gave a sombre eulogy. And then watched as what looked like members of the three families lit the byre that held the three bodies.

  Larkin felt something come to him as he watched all this. A realisation that had been gathering in the back of his head the whole dreadful afternoon but now seemed to take clear shape.

  This world was very real. And all the people he’d met so far were feeling, thinking, intelligent beings. And this was a very dangerous place.

  He’d been acting like this was a game, not really understanding or caring to know how much ordinary people were threatened and killed by monsters. How helpless they must feel at having to know that these terrors existed. And that they could appear at any moment. And knowing that there was nothing they could do about it.

  But I can do something about it. He couldn’t save everyone, but he could do something.

  Larkin saw Helia approach him. By this time the fires were blazing in the darkness. And with a sudden sense of deep revulsion, he saw that the village woman was carrying a pouch.

  “I don’t need that.” He told her, before she could speak.

  Helia hesitated, then approached further.

  “Everyone has given what they can.” She told him, stubbornly. “I know that it’s not as much as could be had from a monster's remains. But we’ll have to find someone going to Haugar that we can sell it to. And I was hoping it could go to…”

  She paused, perhaps seeing the burning anger that had come to Larkin’s face. Though it wasn’t directed at her.

  I guess there was a second reason for bringing out the monster’s corpse, he thought.

  “I don’t need the money or the body.” He told her, forcing himself to keep his voice down. “I was only staying here to…”

  He trailed off as his brain failed to complete that thought. To offer assistance to the village? Or to try and make himself somehow feel better about all of this?

  “I was just leaving.” He corrected himself, hauling himself to his feet.

  Seeing Helia standing there, still uncertain, he forced himself to explain.

  “Keep the coin, use it to help each other.” Larkin shook his head, pulling his backpack over his shoulder. “Sorry for your loss. Goodbye.”

  He turned and headed back to the trail.

  But then stopped as he heard Helia rushing after him.

  “You can’t go without any reward.” The woman told him, stubbornly. “Your clothes are ruined and you look…”

  She paused, though Larkin could guess what she’d been about to say.

  I do look like a mess. He thought as he glanced down at his clothes - which had proved insufficient to the roughness of the marsh.

  “At least take something.” Helia asked.

  Larkin hesitated, and then gave a silent nod. And then watched as the villager dug around in the pouch and pulled out ten coins. She seemed like she wasn’t going to stop, so Larkin reached out for them.

  “That’s enough.” He muttered, stuffing them blindly into a pocket.

  Even just taking any rewards seems wrong. He felt. After the terrible things I’ve seen.

  Helia gave him a look, even as she reluctantly put the purse away.

  “You’ve done a good thing.” She told him. “May the Six be with you.”

  Larkin blinked at her, then swallowed and gave her a nod before turning away again.

  Away from the bonfire, his night vision proved just about adequate to get him in the right direction. He’d only just gone past the last cottage when a sudden shout came from the gathered villagers.

  Turning around, he saw that they were gazing to the west. Where a red light, similar to their smaller bonfire, was lighting up the night sky.

  The capital was in that direction, Larkin thought. And it looked to be on fire.

  After a few moments of watching, he turned and continued walking east.