I walked to an isolated part of the woods to dry myself and try the new clothes Fisher had given me. I needed to wash my old ones later during an afternoon break.
The brown towel was fluffy to the touch, decent quality as I ran it over my legs. Then I saw something in the dirt.
A footprint.
Not human-sized, but larger. About the size of a dog's body. Maybe Fisher's rumors weren't far off. I gulped, a chill running through my spine. Whatever left that print, I did not want to find out.
"We need to conduct a search now! The longer we wait, the worse this situation could get!"
Tense voices rang through a gathering at the center of camp. A heated argument was underway.
I caught Tav watching the main speakers: a man dressed similarly to Kuti and three others with clothes from domains I didn't recognize. The crowd was tense as a bowstring. Something was seriously wrong, likely related to what Fisher mentioned.
"We need to sound an alarm and call back everyone in the area. There might be something wild in the woods that took them!"
"Stop being paranoid. They probably went for a walk or an errand and got lost. No need to put everyone in a panic!"
"I think pretty much everyone is already panicking," Tav muttered, then noticed me standing beside him. "Morning, Rey... I mean Bon."
"Morning," I replied, pretending to ignore his slip-up. "Something's up?"
"Yeah, a couple of people, four I think, went missing," Tav said, giving me a brief debrief. "No one knows exactly what happened, but they might have gotten lost in the night, or missed their way in the forest. The main issue now is whether to sound an alarm and have everyone in their tents, or just have everyone go about their day normally while keeping an eye out for the missing people."
So Fisher was right. "I think the former might be a better option." The crowd continued quarreling. "By the way, where's Veraque?"
Tav frowned. "Veraque told us she's going out to find anyone outside the domains who might need help. Also, what do you mean the former might be a better option?"
I sighed. This wasn't something I wanted to place my bets on, but if my hunch was correct, we were in trouble. "I saw something in the woods when I went to bathe. A footprint, large. Around yay wide?"
I motioned how large the footprint had been as Tav nodded. "I noticed you got new clothes. Stole em?"
"No of course not," I shot back, offended that Tav would think I would steal. "But that's not the point. Something big is in that forest, and it MIGHT be the reason people are vanishing. I was hoping as an expert in biology, you might know what animal it is."
"I can try, but don't put too much faith in me," Tav muttered before a hush fell over the crowd.
"You're sure it wasn't just a moose?" he asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
I shook my head. "Moose prints are cloven. This was... different. Padded, with claw marks—three at the front and one at the back, like a predator's."
Tav was deep in thought until a voice broke through the crowd—one of the arguing men, now turned toward the center.
"Quiet!" he barked. "We've reached a decision."
A circle formed around him, wide and fraying at the edges, like people were ready to run.
"We'll organize three small search groups," the man announced. "Each will sweep a segment of the forest. If nothing is found by sundown, we'll sound the warning bell and shut down the camp until further notice."
A few groans of disagreement rippled through the crowd.
"Search groups?" Tav murmured beside me. "Smart if we're looking for lost people. But if there's something in the woods..."
"What do you think?" I prompted.
"I think there might be something dangerous in the forest—that might be why people are vanishing. And if I'm right about Veraque's Mandate, she might be our only protection, yet she's not here."
How inconvenient. "Search parties aren't the answer. The strongest men need to form an attack unit with weapons to deal with the threat, while everyone else stays in the tents."
"I agree," Tav nodded. "But that doesn't seem to be the conclusion our de facto leaders have reached."
People had already started organizing themselves into search groups of five to nine.
A tall, lanky man with dull orange hair approached us, accompanied by a shorter man with jet-black hair holding a small sword.
Fisher.
He grinned at me. "Long time no see, Bon! How are ya holding up?"
"It's only been this morning since we last saw each other," I said weakly. Fisher's grin widened, a strand of flax between his lips as he brandished his short sword. The weapon made his smile look dangerous.
At their side stood Kuti, with the brown wooden box still strapped to her back.
She could have just left it at the tent. There was no need to carry the Waiting Col everywhere. Even if Col was light, that couldn't be good for her back. Besides, who would want to steal a woman who had practically been put in a coma?
The lanky man scanned the crowd, settling his gaze on us. "You two, are you in a search party yet?"
"Uh, no?" Tav replied, tension in his voice.
"Well, then, join us. We need all the hands we can get." The lanky man clapped Fisher's shoulder, who visibly stiffened at the touch.
All around camp, everyone was being assigned to search parties. Even children carried oil-lit torches, ready to venture into the forest's darkness. Tav shot me a worried glance. This didn't look like something we could back out of.
We conceded.
"We might have an idea where the missing people could be," Tav told the lanky man, his voice low but firm.
The man's eyes widened. "Great!" He straightened his posture, attempting to project authority that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Lead the way! Any clues are useful."
"You remember where you saw the footprint?" Tav whispered to me.
I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry.
"Good, lead us there."
"Don't you people think this is extremely dangerous?" Kuti hissed as we started walking, clutching the straps of her wooden box. "If there's something in the forest, we're going to be killed if we run into it!"
Fisher twirled his sword with practiced ease. "If there is, I'll cut them down!" His wicked grin didn't quite mask the tension in his shoulders. "I might not look it, but I was a soldier back in my domain."
"A soldier and a fisherman?" I asked, genuinely curious despite myself.
His face softened momentarily. "I'm a man of many trades." Then his eyes flicked to my clothing. "You enjoying the clothes, Bon? They look a little tight on you."
That was only because of my weakened state. If not, they'd have fit perfectly. "They're okay. Thank you, Fisher."
He nodded, something like understanding passing between us.
"Back to the original topic," Kuti cut in, her knuckles white around the box straps. "What if you're not strong enough and get overwhelmed?"
Fisher's jaw tightened, but before he could speak, the lanky man raised his hand.
"We have this," he said, holding up a plain metal cylinder with surprising reverence.
"Care to tell us what it does?" Kuti's voice dripped with sarcasm, but I caught the genuine fear beneath it.
"It's some kind of flare thingy." He turned it over in his hands. "They told me all I have to do is pop the lid off, and a fireball will launch into the sky. Green flame, they said. There's some powder packed inside—once the fuse catches, it screams upward and bursts. Supposed to mean 'Help me!'"
Kuti was still unconvinced. The man sighed, shoulders sagging slightly as he turned back to the path.
"If you don't want to come, just stay back in the tent," he said, weariness replacing his attempt at authority.
"I tried that, but they'll just force me into another party that's going to end up walking deeper into the forest," she muttered, falling into step behind us. "That's how I ended up with you guys."
We formed a line—the lanky man and Fisher taking the lead, Tav and I in the middle, and Kuti trailing behind. The trees loomed ahead, wet trunks swaying like huge columns stretching toward the sky. I looked up at the dense foliage just as the first drops of rain began to fall from the pregnant clouds above.
"This is going to be a nightmare..." Reni moaned as Fisher slashed through brambles blocking our path. Rain pattered against leaves, growing heavier by the second. "Don't let the rain distract you! Keep your eyes open for anything—a missing handkerchief, a slipper caught in the weeds—"
"Blood trailing down a tree's bark," Tav cut in, voice flat.
Reni shot him a venomous look. "Don't jinx us with your negativity. Just stay focused on the task."
Tav sighed as raindrops coursed down his bald head to his cheek. "Are we getting closer to the place, Bon?"
"We're already there." I pointed to the spot near the tree where I'd dried myself earlier. Where I'd seen the footprint.
"This is it?" Reni asked, disappointment evident. The location wasn't remarkable, just another patch of forest. But now the rain came in sheets, transforming the ground into slick mud.
It had washed the footprint away.
I could still make out fragments—the back claw mark and base of the foot were faintly visible—but to anyone else, it would look like nothing more than a smudge in the dirt.
"I thought you said you had an idea where the lost people were?" Reni's voice rose with frustration, droplets flying from his lips as he shouted.
"Key word being 'idea,'" Tav responded, wiping rain from his eyes. "We had no concrete answer."
"Ugh." Reni grunted. "We should head back to camp and report we found nothing. This was such a waste of time. Going any further just leads us unnecessarily deeper into the forest. To think I might actually be praised for once..."
As Reni continued his litany of complaints, something caught my eye. On a low branch, snagged among thorns—
A hem. A torn piece of cloth with purple designs on its fringes.
And then it came.
The scream tore through the forest—high, ragged, and raw. It pierced the rainfall like a blade, vibrating through my bones and locking every muscle in my body. The sound climbed impossibly higher, becoming something primal that reached into my chest and squeezed my lungs until I couldn't breathe.
My heart lurched painfully against my ribs. I saw Fisher's sword clatter to the ground from nerveless fingers. Kuti collapsed to her knees, her hands pressed so hard against her ears that her knuckles gleamed white in the dim light.
The scream held—impossibly long—before breaking into wet, gurgling fragments.
Then silence.
Absolute silence.