"That was stupid."
Lenko glanced back with a frown just in time to see Keiser shove a goat away from him. The animal let out a loud, offended bleat and stared at him with a look that could only be described as judgmental.
Lenko held up the charcoal stick in his hand... already worn down to half its length from overuse. He had been trying to scrawl runes across the slick, twitching feathers of a chicken, which, naturally, refused to stay still long enough to be marked.
Keiser repeated himself, sharper this time. "This… is stupid."
He gestured broadly at the chaos of livestock around them. For the past hour, they had been herding goats, horses, chickens, cows, even a stubborn pig, all while scribbling runes onto them. It was the only way to keep them from scattering... sigils to make the herd follow wherever they went, since cramming everything onto a single wagon was impossible.
Lenko narrowed his eyes. "Which one? The decision? Or the fact we're throwing away good coin if we don't do this?" He let the flapping chicken leap from his hands, wings beating frantically as it squawked indignantly before vanishing into the cluster of animals.
Keiser sighed, exasperated, running a hand through his hair. "How did you even end up with all of this?"
Lenko's frown deepened. "What do you mean, me? You're the one who keeps dragging them back. You said it yourself... 'they get past the wards because technically they aren't human or beast.'"
As if to drive the point home, Lenko pointed toward a horse grazing nearby. The animal chewed slowly, staring back at them with the flat, unimpressed gaze of a creature far too aware of its own absurdity.
Keiser squinted at the horse, then dragged a hand down his face. "That piece of shit."
Lenko gasped, eyes wide. "Your Highness! Since when have you been so uncouth?"
Keiser dropped his hand and stared at him in disbelief. "Uncouth? Says the boy who dumped a whole bucket of water on me while laughing... when I was already covered in McKenzy's manure." The memory made him grimace. Lenko, of course, only grinned like it was still the funniest thing in the world.
Shaking his head, Keiser bent down and tapped the horse's leg where he'd scrawled the rune 'follow-us'.
The charcoal lines had already smudged, barely visible against the coarse hair. He narrowed his eyes. "Will this even last?"
"It will," Lenko replied easily, adjusting the satchel slung over his shoulder. "Unless someone deliberately wipes it off. Or if we stop feeding it mana, it'll just fade on its own."
He cinched the strap tight, then gestured toward the winding path leading back to the main road. "We should go."
Keiser straightened and let out a breath. "Sure. We've already wasted hours tethering all this…" He waved a hand toward the cluster of livestock.
As if they understood, the animals glanced at him before quietly shuffling into line behind Lenko. Chickens clucked, goatsbleated, hooves thudded... an absurd little procession led by a boy with a satchel and runes that barely clung to charcoal.
"Hopefully this will be worth it," Keiser muttered. Selling them would give them enough coin to reach the capital.
That was the plan, at least.
But nothing ever stayed that simple.
Already, he could feel the bitter string of mishaps piling behind them like shadows.
Getting their pockets picked by a princess of Hinode.
Being dragged into the strangeness at Hinnom village.
Nearly offered up as a sacrifice... bait, really... just for being outsiders.
And then the worst revelation of all.
That everything was rooted from Muzio.
A fault tied to his body.
Keiser clenched his jaw. He couldn't just walk away from that, no matter how tempting it was. Not when it was his responsibility now...
What was forged as a ward meant to protect his own had warped into a peril for everyone else.
And of course, as if fate enjoyed spitting on him, things had only gotten worse.
The very village meant to guard humanity from the horrors of Sheol had barred him out. Their wards weren't only against beasts attacks anymore... they close the gate too. So there was no way back in. No way through.
But no one ever mentioned attacks that came from inside the village walls.
Keiser felt the runes flare to life before he even thought.
The tether carved on the back of his hand blazed, and the sigils near him answered in kind. He pulled on them hard, forcing the wards into action. In an instant he was at Lenko's side, just in time to shove the boy out of reach of a horned beast that had slipped past a weary villager already locked in combat with two others.
Following that came the stampede.
The livestock, driven into a frenzy, slammed straight into the gates. Keiser yanked hard on the runes tethered to their hides, commanding them to come to him now. The force of his call seared through them, enough to turn panic into rage.
Wood splintered as the gates burst open under the onslaught, the animals pouring through, barreling toward the battleground where beasts attacked and men defended, holding the line as long as they could.
"Get them inside, now!"
Lenko didn't hesitate. He seized the nearest woman by the arm and urged the group of women and children toward the broken gate. The animals barreling down the street split off, scattering... drawn not to the fleeing people but to the mosnters prowling among them.
To the beasts, fresh prey was easier than panicked humans who still fought back.
Keiser risked a glance inside the village as the last of the group slipped through. His jaw tightened. The scene was chaos, but not the kind he expected.
Some villagers had bolted entirely... whether they were there after chasing their lost livestock and now simply fleeing the threat, he couldn't tell.
Others lingered as if nothing grim were happening, strolling past the fighting as though detached from it all.
And still others… were gathering. He could hear them from behind the closed gate, clamoring, jeering, trying to catch a glimpse as though this were some cruel spectacle.
Mercenaries and adventurers surged in next, weapons flashing, answering the chaos with practiced shouts.
One of them stood out from the rest...
At their head strode an old man robed in the garb of a mage, his presence commanding enough to cut through the din. Face red with fury, shouting at the guards to drive the outsiders away.
Keiser narrowed his eyes. The beasts weren't the only threat here.
"Duck, prince!"
Keiser didn't hesitate. He dropped low just as a sharp whoosh cut past his ear. A short blade spun past, hurtling straight for the robed mage.
The mage froze, eyes wide. Before the blade could pierce his chest, a towering mercenary lunged and yanked him back by the collar. The weapon buried itself deep in the dirt where the old man had stood a heartbeat ago.
Just moments earlier, that same mage had been shoving and shouting at Lenko.
"Get out, outsider! You sinners, you bringers of curses!" he had roared, spittle flying.
Lenko, flushed with rage, shoved him back. "What are you saying? What do you think you're doing---people are dying out here!"
But the mage only doubled down, thrashing against the mercenary's grip. His face blazed crimson, veins corded in his neck as he jabbed a finger toward the gate---beyond it, the princess was still locked in combat with the beasts.
"Evil! Evil to the core! That thief---he's using Sheol's curse!"
The mercenary grunted, tired of the scene, and shoved the old man toward the gate. "Mage, reinforce the ward before it collapses."
The mage stumbled, still huffing, his voice dripping venom as he spat back, "Get those outsiders out first... and then I'll do it."
Keiser's eyes flicked to the princess.
She stood her ground, calm but commanding, cutting through the din as she directed the men still holding the line. Even as some beasts veered toward the panicked livestock, plenty remained, snarling and lunging at the fighters.
"Fall back to the gate!" she commanded. "Now! We can't hold this line. The ward will keep them out… the gate's open!"
Her voice sliced through the clamor, sharp and steady, and men obeyed despite the chaos pressing in.
Keiser lurched into a run after them, his leg buckling with each step. He only then realized how badly his shin burned... fire-hot pain with every movement, but he forced himself forward anyway.
"MUZIO!"
The shout cracked through the clamor... Lenko's voice.
Keiser whipped his head around, eyes darting back to the broken gate. He couldn't see everything through the smoke, the bodies, the shifting crush of people. But he saw enough.
Outsiders... women, children... were being herded backward.
Not ushered to safety, but forced out.
Mercenaries and even adventurers were trying push them through the open gates, ignoring their cries and protests. Mothers clutching young ones, children sobbing, old men stumbling... they were all being driven out like cattle.
And there... at the threshold of the gate, standing just shy of the glowing rune lines, was the old mage.
His robes were smeared with dirt and sweat, his hand moving quickly, etching new sigils into the stone. Not the ones that sealed against beasts. These strokes were sharp, deliberate, meant to change the ward entirely.
Keiser's stomach dropped.
He's rewriting the gate to keep humans out.